The Imaginary Garden by Andrew Larsen

• 11/18/2013
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The Imaginary Garden
Andrew Larsen
Kids Can Press (2009)
ISBN 9781554532797
Reviewed by Brooke James (age 5) for Reader Views (7/09)

“The ImaginaryGarden” by Andrew Larsen is about a little girl named Theo and her grandfather.  Theo used to grow a garden with her grandfather at his house, but her grandfather lives in an apartment now.  Theo misses the garden, but they cannot have a garden at the apartment because it is too windy on the balcony.  Theo comes up with an idea to have an imaginary garden.  Theo’s grandfather thinks it is a great idea, so they get to work painting a garden on a huge canvas that they put out on the balcony.  They work side by side “planting” the garden until her grandfather goes away on a trip.  He tells Theo that she will know just what to do with the garden while he is away.  Will Theo be able to finish their garden?  Read “The Imaginary Garden” by Andrew Larsen to find out.

Mom:  “What did you think about this book?”

Brooke:  “I’m not used to this type of book.”

Mom:  “How is it different?”

Brooke:  “It does not seem like a children’s book.”

Mom:  “Did you have a favorite part?”

Brooke:  “I liked the part where they planned the garden and when they painted the garden.”

Parent’s comments:
This book was a very sweet story about a girl and her grandfather.  It had beautiful pictures and wonderful imagination.  I loved the book mainly due to the imagination and art that it talks about.  I found it to be a refreshing change from the normal children’s book.

Since this book is different than the type of children’s book Brooke is used to, it was not her favorite.  I think that the concepts were a little too abstract for her.

Even though Brooke had a hard time with this book, I would still recommend “The Imaginary Garden” by Andrew Larsen to other parents to read to their children.