The Curious Garden

Browns ("Chowder") latest is a quiet but stirring fable of urban renewal, sure to capture imaginations. In exploring his bleak city neighborhood, thoughtful Liamin Browns warm, almost fuzzy acrylic spreads, he looks a little like a friendly, redheaded wooden puppetnotices that some flowering plants have appeared on an old elevated railway track. He teaches himself to care for them (The flowers nearly drowned and he had a few pruning problems, but the plants patiently waited while Liam found better ways of gardening), and the garden responds by growing restless. It wanted to explore. In one of several wordless spreads, Liam stands against a bright blue sky, surrounded by a thick patch of daisies. Spring brings a burst of new energy: the tough little weeds and mosses set out first. They popped up farther and farther from the railway.... but the most surprising things that popped up were the new gardeners. In Browns utopian vision, the urban and the pastoral mingle to joyfully harmonious effectespecially on the final pages, which show a city filled with rooftop gardens, fantastic topiaries, windmills and sparkling ponds. Ages 36. "(Apr.)" Copyright 2009 Publishers Weekly Used with permission.

Gr 13"There once was a city without gardens or trees or greenery of any kind." Thus begins an eco-fantasy in which Liam climbs a stairway leading to abandoned railway tracks and discovers wildflowers and plants struggling to grow. Initially an inept gardener, the boy improves with time, and the garden begins to prosper. He continues his work after the winter snows, and diverse city residents of all ages join in the effort. Plants that spill over onto the letters of the title page foreshadow the glorious flowering to come. But first, readers experience, via Brown's framed acrylic and gouache spreads and vignettes, a smog-filled metropolis bereft of outdoor inhabitants except for Liam, who doggedly explores its dreary streets. Flat, stylized paintings depict the gradual greening of the city. Dark skies gradually become a strikingly blue home for birds; red buildings appear amid the gray ones; and the stark beginning endpapers transform into lush green flower-filled pages at the end. In a lengthy note, Brown explains that this fantasy is based on his real-life discovery of the defunct High Line elevated railway in New York City where he found plants growing amid the rubble. While the story lacks tension and is at times sentimental, the art is spectacular and the book might inspire children to engage in small projects to improve their own neighborhoods."Marianne Saccardi, formerly at Norwalk Community College, CT" Copyright 2009 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

"A quietly marvelous picture book... Echoing the themes of The Secret Garden, it is an ecological fable, a whimsical tale celebrating perseverance and creativity."—The New York Times