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Rose Meets Mr. Wintergarten
Rose is terrified of her neighbor, Mr. Wintergarten--who is rumored to have a pet crocodile and who has a penchant for eating small children--until she finally braves the perils of his garden to retrieve her lost ball.
32 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1992
About the author
Bob Graham
91 books84 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.
An Australian children's author and illustrator. His books include Max, which won the Nestlé Smarties Book Prize Gold Award, Jethro Byrd, Fairy Child, which won the Kate Greenaway Medal, and "Let's Get A Pup!" Said Kate which won the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award
An Australian children's author and illustrator. His books include Max, which won the Nestlé Smarties Book Prize Gold Award, Jethro Byrd, Fairy Child, which won the Kate Greenaway Medal, and "Let's Get A Pup!" Said Kate which won the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
September 28, 2017
Lovely lovely book with a really nice moral. Really good for PSED skills 😁
November 13, 2017
Amazing illustrations.
Could be fun to read the text to the children and allow them to draw pictures from the description, then compare with what Graham has drawn.
Great moral.
Could be fun to read the text to the children and allow them to draw pictures from the description, then compare with what Graham has drawn.
Great moral.
July 25, 2019
عنوان ترجمه فارسی: رز به دیدن آقای وینترگارتن می رود
September 30, 2016
What a powerful book to explore the contrast in characters.
Rose who is a young girl who comes across as caring and happy.
Mr Wintergarten who seems a grumpy old man.
This book allowed for A LOT of discussion and the pictures really aid in that too!
The end pages are a really good way of getting the children to describe what the houses look like. I would use this to talk about which house they think might belong to Rose and which one might be Mr Wintergarten’s and why. “Winter as a season is dark and cold and dull.” “Rose is a beautiful bright flower therefore could be her house.”
I could use it to talk about how Mr Wintergarten seems grey compared to Rose. Why was he in a dull house on his own? What do you think happened? Why did he decide to open his curtains after all these years? Do you think he has changed?
The final end pages show how much the house has changed and I would ask the children to describe what is now happening and how has it changed throughout the book?
Rose who is a young girl who comes across as caring and happy.
Mr Wintergarten who seems a grumpy old man.
This book allowed for A LOT of discussion and the pictures really aid in that too!
The end pages are a really good way of getting the children to describe what the houses look like. I would use this to talk about which house they think might belong to Rose and which one might be Mr Wintergarten’s and why. “Winter as a season is dark and cold and dull.” “Rose is a beautiful bright flower therefore could be her house.”
I could use it to talk about how Mr Wintergarten seems grey compared to Rose. Why was he in a dull house on his own? What do you think happened? Why did he decide to open his curtains after all these years? Do you think he has changed?
The final end pages show how much the house has changed and I would ask the children to describe what is now happening and how has it changed throughout the book?
January 20, 2016
I've loved Rose a long time and am a big fan of Bob Graham. He always mixes things up in terms of traditional roles and expectations and Rose is no exception. She and her mother, extend friendship to their tricky neighbour Mr Wintergarden, with bountiful results. I have read this book many times and it is useful for reflecting on the problem solving capacity that Rose demonstrates.
It wasn't till I read The Selfish Giant last year, that I recognised some similarities between both books, which is a whole other story.
It wasn't till I read The Selfish Giant last year, that I recognised some similarities between both books, which is a whole other story.
May 30, 2021
Bob Graham; thank you for writing this book; & the illustrations are enough to get ‘Smiling a Mile (~Sima MITTAL).
It is a Simple story that I read with My Nephew ~> Angad MITTAL here in Dubai today!
I believe this book as being transformative yet calming.
Will not say more as want the next readers to form their own magic!
Thanks to Walker Books for Publishing a piece of Genius that it is BOOK for all ages!
TRICK Question to readers: it can be similar in some ways to which other Book?
It is a Simple story that I read with My Nephew ~> Angad MITTAL here in Dubai today!
I believe this book as being transformative yet calming.
Will not say more as want the next readers to form their own magic!
Thanks to Walker Books for Publishing a piece of Genius that it is BOOK for all ages!
TRICK Question to readers: it can be similar in some ways to which other Book?
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 1, 2023
I'm not a fan of these cartoon style drawings but they were quite expensive and I enjoyed the story lots. It was a simple story about a girl who was afraid to ask for her ball back from an old man's house. Everyone is scared of him so her mum goes with her and takes him some cakes. I enjoyed the comical ending and a nice story about making friends, not listening to gossip and respecting people's differences.
May 12, 2018
April 2018
July 26, 2023
Lovely. Indeed, don't jump to conclusions about people you've never even met, and don't believe rumours. If you aren't up to 'walking a mile in their shoes' at least knock on the door and say hi!
October 6, 2014
Rose Meets Mr. Wintergarten by Bob Graham is about a little girl, named Rose, who moves into a new house with her family. Her family began noticing that their neighbor is nonexistent. She hears stories from her new friends she met at school about how Mr. Wintergarten was a scary old man who owns a wolf for a dog and a salt water crocodile. He also eats children! Un-startled, Rose and her two sisters don't believe the rumors they hear. When Faith, one of the sisters, kicks their ball it bounces right over to Mr. W's yard. The friends run to the girls mother to ask for advice. Handing them a plate of cookies, she suggests walking over and asking for it back. The mother walks Rose up to the front door. Rose is uneasy when she finds her neighbor in darkness eating rotten food. Mr. W unpleasantly kicks her out without her ball. Once she left, the old man felt a change of heart, so he opened his curtains and walks outside. What he does next leaves the reader with a warm heart.
Before the story begins, the reader opens to the first page, before the title page, and is presented with a two page spread of a bird's eye view of the neighborhood. You can see the Summer's house and Mr. W's house standing next to one another in complete contrast. The Summer's is bright and beautiful where as the other house is grey and mysterious. Once the reader completes the story, they are again presented with another spread of the neighbor after. Mr. W's house is all cleaned up and he has friends in his yard plying with him. This before and after effect allows the reader to reflect on what happened and what changed during the story. This technique is super helpful for classroom discussions.
The imagery in this story did not spark my interest, but I understand why Bob Graham chose to do it this way. The images are sketch-like and messy. Some pictures seem almost overwhelming at times due to the amount of detail. Each sketch is colored in with a watercolor affect which extends the color beyond the boundary line of the object. However, this technique all makes sense when reader gets to the part where Mr. W is finally introduced. This helped set the scene and mood of his dark and scary house. His over grown shrubs and the lifeless interior made the reader almost uncomfortable.
Before the story begins, the reader opens to the first page, before the title page, and is presented with a two page spread of a bird's eye view of the neighborhood. You can see the Summer's house and Mr. W's house standing next to one another in complete contrast. The Summer's is bright and beautiful where as the other house is grey and mysterious. Once the reader completes the story, they are again presented with another spread of the neighbor after. Mr. W's house is all cleaned up and he has friends in his yard plying with him. This before and after effect allows the reader to reflect on what happened and what changed during the story. This technique is super helpful for classroom discussions.
The imagery in this story did not spark my interest, but I understand why Bob Graham chose to do it this way. The images are sketch-like and messy. Some pictures seem almost overwhelming at times due to the amount of detail. Each sketch is colored in with a watercolor affect which extends the color beyond the boundary line of the object. However, this technique all makes sense when reader gets to the part where Mr. W is finally introduced. This helped set the scene and mood of his dark and scary house. His over grown shrubs and the lifeless interior made the reader almost uncomfortable.
December 1, 2012
This book is about a young girl called Rose and her family, they move in to their beautiful new house. However next door lives Mr wintergarten he is a old scruffy man, and his house is dark. All the children are afraid of him.
One day Rose accidently throws her ball in to Mr Wintergarten’s garden.
All the children tell Rose she wont be able to get her ball back if she goes in the garden Mr Wintergarten will eat her.
Rose feels afraid after hearing this and tells her mum, they think of an idea and rose takes fairy cakes and flowers with her for Mr Wintergarten. Rose opens the front gate and stands still and tip toes in quietly she then knocks at the door and waits. Mr Wintergarten speaks to Rose rudely, but after a while he thinks how nice Rose was, he finally lets the sun light come in to his house and goes to the garden him self to give Rose back her ball. All the children are amazed to see Mr wintergarten becoming a new and more cheerful person.
This book is suitable for key stage 1. There are loads of pictures used and children can act out the scenes such as tip toeing, and then predicting what they think might happen when the door opens.
One day Rose accidently throws her ball in to Mr Wintergarten’s garden.
All the children tell Rose she wont be able to get her ball back if she goes in the garden Mr Wintergarten will eat her.
Rose feels afraid after hearing this and tells her mum, they think of an idea and rose takes fairy cakes and flowers with her for Mr Wintergarten. Rose opens the front gate and stands still and tip toes in quietly she then knocks at the door and waits. Mr Wintergarten speaks to Rose rudely, but after a while he thinks how nice Rose was, he finally lets the sun light come in to his house and goes to the garden him self to give Rose back her ball. All the children are amazed to see Mr wintergarten becoming a new and more cheerful person.
This book is suitable for key stage 1. There are loads of pictures used and children can act out the scenes such as tip toeing, and then predicting what they think might happen when the door opens.
March 10, 2012
If you have kids and you haven't met Bob Graham yet, it's time. (Trouble is, you people who live near me, there's none to be found, at least unless you come to my house, or you do what I did and buy them.)
I LOVE this author! My kids LOVE this author (though, being brought up in the semi-monochromatic community we live in, they get to wonder at the moms with tatoos & nose-rings and dads with long hair, the generally hippy-looking people, but that is one of the things I love most about these books, actually :) and I am SO excited that I just bought 9 of his great books.
They have really fantastic heart, interesting and lively pictures, I love the real and happy family life portrayed in each book.
This particular book is very sweet. Of course it wraps up a sticky problem simplistically and quickly, but it's a 26 pg children's picture book, so that's okay!
I LOVE this author! My kids LOVE this author (though, being brought up in the semi-monochromatic community we live in, they get to wonder at the moms with tatoos & nose-rings and dads with long hair, the generally hippy-looking people, but that is one of the things I love most about these books, actually :) and I am SO excited that I just bought 9 of his great books.
They have really fantastic heart, interesting and lively pictures, I love the real and happy family life portrayed in each book.
This particular book is very sweet. Of course it wraps up a sticky problem simplistically and quickly, but it's a 26 pg children's picture book, so that's okay!
September 23, 2014
This is a great book for young children. It is an adorable children's book that is primarily for entertainment, but can also be used as a book to enhance a child's reading. It is a great beginner book for kids and that's why I picked it.
February 14, 2008
This is my ultimate favorite book!!! Ever!!! I don't care if it's a picture book!!!! It's sooo happy!!!
June 19, 2012
I think I'll be using this little picture book for a mini lesson early in the upcoming school year.
April 6, 2018
A heartwarming book that really encourages children to think about how they perceive others
November 22, 2021
Glad I found this book. A short, simple story with a deep moral impact. Kindness and opened heart could never go wrong.
September 29, 2015
A childhood favorite. Teaches that kindness can soften a heart and appearances don't matter.
March 11, 2016
good - i would read again
teaches about making good choices and open mindedness
teaches about making good choices and open mindedness
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews