The Little Gardener

This is a lusciously-illustrated story, about a tiny gardener who is overwhelmed by the task facing him until a beautiful flower inspires more (and larger!) people to get involved, making his gardening a pleasure rather than a chore. The spare text is beautifully supported by the colourful, dense illustrations of the garden and the tiny wildlife in it. This is a lovely book to use around PSHE and circle time at Reception and KS1, building the idea of teamwork and collaboration; some jobs just seem too daunting, too big for one person, but together we can create something beautiful. At KS1, children are learning about plants and living things which The Little Gardener can support and this can be extended into KS2, looking at habitat and the cause and effects of change; if the garden doesn't succeed, the little gardener will lose his food and home. I also enjoyed looking at the linework in the illustrations and how the artist brings out the patterns in nature; children can go on to look at artists like William Morris and see how he uses those patterns in his furnishings. Picture book / Ages 4+ / Reviewed by Louise Gahan, teacher.

Suggested Reading Age 3+

The cover of The Little Gardener reveals a tiny figure resting on a leaf, which gives the reader an immediate sense of his size. He introduces us to his huge garden full of stones and weeds. The book invites opportunities for talk about relative sizes and scale whilst trying to locate the little gardener and his tiny hut in the pictures. As the gardener works hard and attempts to live off his land he admits to not being very good at gardening. The illustrations and simple text complement one another well. A beautiful flower appears in the garden which gives him hope even though he is struggling to survive. Repetition of text here is used to good effect. One night he makes a wish and later he sees someone else admiring his flower. The flower inspires the other person to work harder. The little gardener falls asleep for a month and awakes to find that something has changed. There are lots of changes to spot and discuss. Returning to the gardener the language used shows that he now belongs to the garden instead of the other way around. This heart-warming story is useful for introducing topics on growth or plants. Follow up activities might include sowing some sunflower seeds in different types of soil and monitoring the growth or making some seed collage pictures. Picture book/ Ages 3+

Suggested Reading Age 3+