The Curious Garden

The Curious Garden by Peter Brown can be described as a "go green" type of book. A boy named Liam lives in this very industrialized city with no plant life any where in sight, isn't satisfied with his environment. One day he finds himself snooping around in areas which could possibly lead to surprising discoveries on a stairwell leading up to railway tracks. And at the top, he finds plant life trying to survive in places it has no business doing so; in between the railway tracks. Liam takes on the responsibility of caring for this new found life and each day he goes to a different part of the tracks, he finds more and more plants trying to survive. He nurtures all of it and it thrives in the spring, summer, and fall but is lost when winter comes around. When springtime is finally here again, he goes back to find more and more people caring and further nurturing what he started and before you know it, the whole city is thriving with plant life.

I really enjoyed this story of The Curious Garden because of what the story represents. Children would probably not think twice of the importance of greenery because it is every where and it's taken for granted. But this child only desired more of it after the discovery of a scarce amount. Similar to Dr. Seuss' The Lorax, it directs the significance of a story towards our environment which is rare in literature, at least most literature I've come across. I definitely recommend this book because of the importance of it's message. It's appropriate for students anywhere from kindergarten till maybe fourth and even fifth grade. The story is great and it makes you wonder what will happen next. I really loved the illustrations because they provide the perfect visual for what is described in the story. They may not seem as inviting as other more "bubbly" type of illustrations but I think it's what makes the story great as well.