Good Night, Garden Gnome

by Jamichael Henterly

A garden gnome stands in one spot, quietly watching over the land. And during the daytime, the playful magic of a child's imagination can seem to bring him to life. Then, as nightfall descends, a new magic awakens him, and he tends to his duties throughout the dream-time hours: protecting the gardens, fending off predators, rescuing lost toys, and keeping order. From dusk till dawn, it will be a good night for Garden Gnome.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens

32 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 2001

Reviews

[Cassandra Arrotta]

Good Night, Garden Gnome is about a day in the life of a garden gnome who is owned by a little girl. He is played with all day and magically comes to life at night. During the night hours, the wordless picture book depicts the ongoings of the hidden and magical life of the gnome. He can be understood as protecting and caring for the garden and the creatures who dwell within it. He also saves a teddy bear from the horrors of being left behind in the yard and safely returns it to the little girls room while she sleeps. The pictures are depicted in a motif with hues that are meant to be understood by the reader as realistic.

This book can be used to teach children about numerous aspects of literacy at any age level. It can be used as a tool to have learners create a storyline and add text to the pictures, or to use intentional questioning about the illustrations and art depicted on its pages. It can also be used to have individual and/or group conversations within a classroom about integrity, taking care of plants and animals, gender roles, heroism, and much more... Because of its wordlessness, this story can be used at any grade level to teach numerous elements found within literacy.

[Nicole Wilson]

Adorable. Good Night, Garden Gnome is a wordless postmodern picture book that satisfies readers with a sweet and loyal gnome who generously works in the garden at night after a long day of play with his owner--a little girl. The seemingly inanimate gnome rides in a red wagon with a troop of stuffed animals and he is made a thorough participant throughout the girls' play. Although unconventional, he attends a tea party, plays dress up and even enjoys a "swim" in a bird bath. When nightfall comes, he magically comes to life is hard at work. In the end, he saves a toy for his companion and safely returns it before the sun rises.

I could see using this in a classroom for a quick mini lesson on theme or characterization. Analyzing the stress that the gnome goes through earlier in the day juxtaposed with his acts of kindness at night could make for easy connections to briefly talk about these concepts in class.

[Megan Wagner]

Cute, but the gnome is a little creepy.

[Margaret]

A picture says a 1000 words. Only 4 in this book but such a great and imaginative story. So much magic!

[Audrey]

my favorite book as a baby. it’s not creepy y’all just soft and lame and don’t appreciate art.

[Kari]

My daughter enjoyed creating the words for the story with me as we looked at the pictures.

[Savannah]

This book was different becuase it had no words, which I thought made it perfect for young elementary kids. Even at the age where children don't know how to read, they can still understand this book and identify what is happening based off of the illustrations. This book's illustrations were really beautiful and it was a cute little story about a garden gnome who comes to life at night and goes around the garden helping the animals and the plant life, and then also helps the little girl find her teddy bear that she had lost. I thought this book was really cute and perfect for kindergarten and first grade students.

[Alli Eidson]

This book contains no words, but has great illustrations as it tells the story of how a garden gnome does kind things during the night while the little girl is sleeping. His good deeds include: picking up the little girl's teddy bear that she dropped, planting and watering the garden, and keeping the dog away from all of nature's animals. This book would be great for pre-k or kindergarten so they can make up their own story to go along with the pictures.

[Natalie Traylor]

This wordless picture book is about a garden gnome that stands watch over the land. However, once a child's imagination brings him to life, he waters the garden, picks up the child's toys, and does other good deeds for his people.

I would use this picture in my classroom to let my students create their own words. I would make copies of the pictures, and then they would all have a story to be the author of.

[Chris]

Wordless picture book.
A garden gnome is treated like a doll by a little girl during the day. By night the garden gnome comes to life, and after doing his normal chores returns the girl's bear for her. This is a simple story which could be made a lot of fun with some imagination. Perhaps a play recreating the story...

[Brittney Dermo]

A garden gnome is treated like a doll by a little girl during the day. By night the garden gnome comes to life, and after doing his normal chores returns the girl's bear for her. This is a simple story which could be made a lot of fun with some imagination. I would use this book to show how to the importance of imagination. I would also use this book to show how to create the students own story.

[Megan Roberts]

This story is a wordless picture book that will help students create their own story from the illustrations. I would use this book in my classroom to help promote students imagination and let them tell me what they think is going on in the story. This story shows pictures of the gnome and how the gnome watches over things in the garden.

[Matt]

Mildly creepy wordless book about a young girl and her friend, a garden gnome. It would have been better if it were more whimsical, perhaps with some flamingos, lawn jockeys and whirligigs. Is there such a book?

[Alice]

Usually I don't like wordless books, but this one is clear enough in the pictures to tell the story! I actually didn't hate it...it was actually cute! Will go great with our summer reading program theme!

[Jenn]

Fun little book that my story time kids enjoyed. Since there are no words the kids got to tell the story and they really enjoyed it. I'm usually not a big fan of these kinds of books and almost never use them during story time, but this one worked out well.

[Melki]

By day this unassuming statue attends tea parties, and rides around in a little girl's wagon. But by night -- he tends the crops, saves small animals from the cat, and finds lost toys. A sweet, almost wordless book that makes these sometimes creepy garden denizens a lot more likable.

[Beth]

Stunning full color artwork in this picture book tells the story of the gnome who finds the stuffed bear for the girl.

[Ann]

This is a fun and cute story, but it turns totally creep-town at the end, which I loved! No one else would probably think it was creepy, but it really, really was.

[Beverly]

I loved Henterly's gorgeous watercolor paintings. A wordless story in which the "reader" follows the gnome's after hours adventures in the garden through the illustrations.

[Why]

Our class was assigned to write dialogue and a story to go with the picture book. I need to get the book.

[Travis]

Amazing story, it's a very interesting story of a gnome. A must read for all.

[Megan Richards]

wordless picture book