The Night Garden by Elise Hurst
ABC
Books, 2007
(Age Junior primary) I was reminded of two classics, Tom Brown,
Rose and the Midnight Cat, and Where the Wild Things are,
as I read
this new tale, of a girl who after painting a magical garden on her
window, wakes to go down into the garden, now magically brought to
life. The garden is an adventure playground with trees all misshapen
and curved, hedges the shape of kindly monsters and strange dancing
animals to play with.
Along with her cat, Strange, her imagination has no bounds as she
plays, skips, jumps and runs through the place, until tired she returns
to her bed to sleep. The illustrations are appealingly old fashioned in
their execution, and will have some appeal to the younger reader as
they look into the pictures trying to find different shapes and
characters. Aimed at the pre school and kindergarten, The Night
Garden
can be read aloud.
Fran Knight
Comment: Shortlisted CBCA 2008 - Early Childhood
Pat Pledger
© Pledger
Consulting, 2007