Product Description

Mary doesn't have a real garden so she makes one from an old cooking pot with a hollyhock wall around the rim. She makes a boy, Tom, to live in the garden. The one night, something very strange happens and Mary finds herself in the garden talking to Tom!

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2340080 in Books
• Published on: 2000-06-05
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 32 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Real and imaginary elements overlap in a confusing mishmash in Waddell's (Good Job, Little Bear) tale of a girl who starts a garden in a cooking pot. When the seeds Mary plants sprout into tiny trees, she adds a piece of blue ribbon to serve as a stream and builds a bridge out of matchsticks, then paints flowers on the outside of the pot to create a "hollyhock wall." Next she shapes a clay figure whom she names Tom. That night, explains the author in overblown prose, "somehow, some strange how, something strange happened...."Athe first of several such refrains. Suddenly Mary finds herself within her lush garden, where Tom is now a living, breathing boy. The plot straddles reality and unreality as Tom returns to clay, then later becomes human once againAwith no apparent logicAand Mary comes and goes from the garden. Mavor's (The Way Home) inventive and fetching fabric-relief art provides a more compelling juxtaposition of the actual and the fanciful. Her intricate tableaux of appliqu?, embroidery and soft sculpture incorporate live flowers and greenery, miniature objects and pieces of lace and ribbon to create a startlingly convincing three-dimensional effect. Yet even the artwork fails to orient readers on this bewildering outing. Ages 4-8. (June)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal
PreSchool-Grade 1-When Mary, an apartment dweller, wishes for a garden to play in, her mother suggests that they make one in an old cooking pot. The resulting creation, depicted in Mavor's distinctive soft-sculpture artwork and creative stitching, is lush with flowers and trees, and bordered by a wall of painted hollyhocks. A matchstick bridge spans a sparkling blue-ribbon stream. Despite its beauty, Mary feels that something is missing. She fashions a clay figure whom she names Tom and peeks "over the hollyhock wall to see how the garden would look if it were a real garden, and big." Just then,"...somehow, some strange how, something strange happened...." Mary finds herself playing with Tom in the garden, until the boy climbs the hollyhock wall. The magical phrase appears a second time, and now Tom, having fallen out of the pot, is lifeless again, and Mary finds herself back in her room wondering if it was all a dream. The third time the phrase appears, Mary is visiting her granny and looks over a hollyhock wall into the garden next door. Tom is there to welcome her and the two children play. Here, the book abruptly ends. Readers are left to wonder about the source of the magic and whether Mary will have to stay in the garden. Or is it all a dream? The richly detailed illustrations may interest readers more than the story, which doesn't measure up to Waddell's well-loved earlier books.
Virginia Golodetz, Children's Literature New England, Burlington, VT
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
The story, a slight fantasy, would not stand on its own, but Mavor's fabric illustrations add an air of enchantment. A girl named Mary makes a rock garden that magically becomes real. She finds herself cavorting through the garden with young Tom. The next day, the enchanted garden becomes inanimate once more, but Mary goes to visit her grandmother, who has a garden that looks quite like Mary's, and she is not very surprised to find the real Tom there. Mavor says in a tiny note on the title page that the pictures are made from scraps of cloth, wood, and wire and are hand sewn with thread to make parts of the pictures. Then the trees, houses, and stuffed people are sewn to the cloth backgrounds. These three-dimensional delights give kids a lot to pore over. From flora and fauna in the garden to a tiny teddy bear in bed, the details and overall design lend themselves to closer examination. Eminently appealing. Ilene Cooper

Customer Reviews

One of Waddell's best!
We bought this at a used book store a week ago, and have read it at least 50 times. If you have a very imaginative child, this is a great book. The illustrations are great, different from standard picture books. The main character, Mary, creates a darling "garden" project which she magically becomes a part of and plays in. She isn't quite sure how it is all happening, but she likes it. The unexplained magic is charming, thought provoking, and just plain fun. I love the idea that some of lifes surprises have no obvious explanation. If you have a child who seems to get lost in imaginary play, I am sure they will enjoy and relate to this book. This inspired us to create our own secret garden. Great project idea. We love our Martin Waddell books, and this is no exception. Can't say enough good about this book.

A nice story with unique illustrations.
My five year old son and I enjoy this book. It's a keeper! The illustrations are very different and we found them so interesting.

Wonderful Illistration
I purchased the book in order to do a presentation on it for my Children's Literature class. The illistrations are in fact what orinally caught my eye. I was doing stock at work and came across it and thought it was so colorful and interesting and thought, what child wouldn't be fascinated by this book. I eventually read the book and came to find that the story is great as well. I think it would encourage any child to use their imagination as well as to explore different artistic mediums other than crayons and construction paper.