The garden on Red Gum Road by Phil Cummings and Danny Snell

A delightful story about a grandma and her grandson going to the local community garden to work on their patch, where meeting friends, enjoying each other’s company, sharing ideas and produce is just as important as the work they do in the garden. 

In rhyming couplets, Phil Cummings gently leads his readers through the range of activities undertaken by the lad and his Nonna. Readers will love joining in with the seemingly uncomplicated rhyming phrases, predicting the rhyming word and learning the lines for themselves to join in on the second and third readings. 

At the community garden the boy helps Maya water the garden, watches the birds in the bird bath with Rishi, picks fruit with Samir, copies the chickens dancing with Eduardo, picks tomatoes with Zara and creeps around the sleeping dog with Maria until it is time for the culmination of the day’s activities - a picnic for everyone. As the sun begins to set, Nonna nd her grandson walk back home with produce to share with their family.

This charming story of a community garden where people in the neighbourhood share the work load, plant, dig, weed and pick the fruit of their labours, will delight and amuse younger readers, seeing opportunities in their own backyard or community space. Here they will have the chance to meet others, to share and play, to communicate and learn from others all within the safe confines of a neighbourhood project. The nod to older times is seen through the grandmother while newer generations revitalise the garden reflecting the changing neighbourhood. This warm story of friendship, of generations and of working together will create many opportunities in the classroom for discussion.

Danny Snell captures Phil’s intent with his beautiful unfussy illustrations. The relationship between the family is lovingly drawn from the couple drinking coffee by the sink watching their son and gran leave the house for the garden, to the array of families shown in the garden. Each has particular characteristics which will entice the reader to look more closely.  I loved looking at the profusion of footwear, from slippers in the kitchen to a mass of boots in the garden, showcasing Wellingtons, R M Williams and scuffs. I loved the garden itself, a neat slice of raised vegetable beds and trees, the chooks surrounded by a wonderful makeshift enclosure using all sorts of recycled fencing. And I loved the humour of the children playing in the garden, promoting a whole range of outdoor activities for our younger readers to emulate. 

Little Book Press publishes books for Raising Literacy Australia, a non profit organisation which promotes literacy. More about the group can be found here.

Themes: Friendship, Cooperation, Grandparents, Families, Gardens, Neighbourhoods, Community.

Fran Knight