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The Curious Garden

Peter Brown

4.29 · Rating details · 6,112 ratings · 665 reviews

One boy's quest for a greener world... one garden at a time.

While out exploring one day, a little boy named Liam discovers a struggling garden and decides to take care of it. As time passes, the garden spreads throughout the dark, gray city, transforming it into a lush, green world.

This is an enchanting tale with environmental themes and breathtaking illustrations that be ...more

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Hardcover, 40 pages

Published April 1st 2009 by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

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· 6,112 ratings · 665 reviews

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Feb 19, 2009 Travis rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2009

Hello! My name is Mr. Message. You probably know me from my countless appearances in books, especially the "for children" variety. It's my job to expose a universal truth or support a cause. Sometimes I even tell the reader how they should act. As you may know, I can be controversial.

Sometimes, people get upset when authors make it really clear that I'm coming to the party. They put me front and center, and the story takes a back seat. Hey, I can be preachy if that's what the author wants! I don Hello! My name is Mr. Message. You probably know me from my countless appearances in books, especially the "for children" variety. It's my job to expose a universal truth or support a cause. Sometimes I even tell the reader how they should act. As you may know, I can be controversial.

Sometimes, people get upset when authors make it really clear that I'm coming to the party. They put me front and center, and the story takes a back seat. Hey, I can be preachy if that's what the author wants! I don't always raise a stink, though. Occasionally, authors cleverly sneak me into a story, making as little disruption as possible. The reader hardly knows I'm there.

Then you have an author like Peter Brown (Chowder, Flight of the Dodo) and his book The Curious Garden. In this book I tell kids that caring for the environment makes a better world. Peter somehow manages to to make me the center of attention, yet not so preachy that it feels like readers are learning a lesson. There's a kind of take-it-or-leave-it nonchalance that I quite like.

The story is about a red-haired boy named Liam. He lives in a dreary town without a plant to speak of. No trees, no flowers, nothing but cement and smog. One day Liam happens upon a staircase which leads to the abandoned railroad tracks. What our hero discovers there changes his life. He finds plants. It's not much - some sad looking grass and a few flowers on their deathbeds, but Liam decides to nurse them back to health. As they get better, the vegetation begins to spread, and soon other folks begin to follow Liam's lead. After a while the town, once dingy and gray, is transformed.

While Peter did a great job adding me to the story, his acrylic and gouache illustrations really steal the show. The man is a master of perspective, always choosing the right angle to add life to the story. The beating heart of this book is right in the middle. Two wordless two-page spreads show the amazing growth of Liam's garden. In fact, the illustrations are such that this book would function pretty well were it completely wordless.

While I, Mr. Message, would love to take sole credit for the success of The Curious Garden, more praise should go to Mr. Brown, who created beautiful images, tamed my preachy side, and crafted a lovely story. ...more

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Apr 25, 2009 Lisa (not getting friends updates) Vegan rated it it was amazing

Recommends it for: Monica (for Liam); curious and nature loving children and their adults

Recommended to Lisa (not getting friends updates) by: Lee

Shelves: childrens, fiction, readbooks-male-author-or-illust, picture-books, z2009, zz-5star, reviewed

This book completely charmed me.

It reminded me of how when I was young blades of grass growing up through the sidewalk cracks had me fascinated; I could examine them for long periods of time and enjoy myself thoroughly.

Liam the city gardener is a really wonderful character. The garden taking over the previously lifeless city is inspiring and there are funny and sweet moments.

The illustrations are beautiful and fun to look at.

Until I joined Goodreads I’d never lost my fondness for children’s and ...more

flag 18 likes · Like · see review

Mar 22, 2010 Manybooks rated it liked it

Shelves: childrens-literature, picture-books, gardening, book-reviews, ecology

Both the illustrations and text of Peter Brown's The Curious Garden are expressively nuanced, and the change from a grey and depressing urban wasteland to a blooming, green metropolis is in many ways truly magical and inspiring. The very concept of nature actually having its own mind, of nature taking over if given even just a bit of encouragement, or being simply left alone, is also a very hopeful and refreshing sentiment (especially for those of us living in urban, very nature deprived environ Both the illustrations and text of Peter Brown's The Curious Garden are expressively nuanced, and the change from a grey and depressing urban wasteland to a blooming, green metropolis is in many ways truly magical and inspiring. The very concept of nature actually having its own mind, of nature taking over if given even just a bit of encouragement, or being simply left alone, is also a very hopeful and refreshing sentiment (especially for those of us living in urban, very nature deprived environs). It brings to mind the fact that in certain areas, like the generally people empty no-man's lands between antagonistic, warring nations, even in the presence of abandoned military vehicles, land mines and the like, rare and endangered plants and animals sometimes tend to flourish, mostly because there is little human interference (similar with The Curious Garden, where nature as an entity makes use of an abandoned railway line, and with a little TLC and encouragement from a small boy, is able to reclaim the city, is able to beautify and greenify it).

However, while I have generally very much enjoyed The Curious Garden and with all my heart and soul appreciate the environmental messages presented, the illustrations of the gardens themselves are generally not at all natural enough for my own personal tastes, are simply not wild enough. I do not tend to like formal gardens all that much at the best of times, and thus I really do NOT like topiary (trees should be trees and not shaped like animals or other types of figures). And while I realise that city gardens and parks require a certain amount of pruning, and that plants which are blocking stop signs or fire hydrants need to be removed, there is at times a bit too much gardening, too much human manipulation of nature presented and depicted in The Curious Garden. Gardens (or at least, my ideal type of garden) should, of course, look tidy, but there should also be an obvious air of wildness about them, including deadwood and decaying leaves, as all of this detritus is not only part of the cycle (and circle) of life, deadwood and decaying plant materials provide food and shelter for birds, rodents and other animals, and the very process of decay enriches the soil to provide natural fertilization (and rebirth). And thus, while I truly I did and do enjoy and appreciate the lushly illustrated green transformation of the morose and depressing grey cityscape into The Curious Garden, I would have loved this book oh so much more, and probably considered it a favourite, had there also been at least some true, bona fide wilderness type areas depicted, with natural looking trees, weeds, logs and untouched, unspoiled nature. ...more

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Aug 27, 2009 Kathryn rated it it was amazing

Recommends it for: EVERYONE!

Shelves: nature-animals, very-favorites, childrens-picture-books

I am in love with this book!!! It touched my mind, my heart and my imagination. Liam is an adorable, thoughtful, creative boy who gently cares for and appreciates the bedraggles remnants of a garden--the only plant life in the city. Yet, the garden is also a personality in this story. I don't want to give anything away, just encourage everyone to read this book! The illustration at the end almost brought tears to my eyes it is so beautiful! I am sure I am talking this up too much, but, hey, what ...more

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Aug 31, 2009 Krista the Krazy Kataloguer rated it really liked it

Shelves: read-childrens-books

A rather dystopian story about a drab, ugly, polluted city where people spend most of their time indoors. Liam, however, likes to wander outside, and one day discovers some plants struggling to grow on an old train trestle. As he tends the plants, his garden grows and spreads around the city. As it spreads, people begin to notice and leave their homes to enjoy the greenery and help tend the plants. It's a lovely story of the greening of a community and its effect on the inhabitants. One person c ...more

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Jan 05, 2016 Kayla Edwards rated it really liked it

Shelves: picture-books

This is a really neat way of showing how a single idea, when properly nurtured, can take root and expand to touch other minds and sprout new ideas. Or you can keep it simple and it's just a book about how plants can spread far and wide. Either way, a nicely written book with fun illustrations. ...more

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Aug 15, 2009 Betsy rated it really liked it

They say that children's books are inherently didactic. Particularly those of the picture book variety. There's an idea that you can't tell a story to a child without including some of your own personal values in the midst of the tale. And this may be true since immoral children's books are few and far between (Uncle Shelby's ABZ Book excepted, of course). The trick then is to tell a tale without bludgeoning the child over the head with the message. Get too preachy and both kids and parents will They say that children's books are inherently didactic. Particularly those of the picture book variety. There's an idea that you can't tell a story to a child without including some of your own personal values in the midst of the tale. And this may be true since immoral children's books are few and far between (Uncle Shelby's ABZ Book excepted, of course). The trick then is to tell a tale without bludgeoning the child over the head with the message. Get too preachy and both kids and parents will shy away from the material. Not preachy enough and you're basically just placing words on a page without much in the way of rhyme or reason. Enter The Curious Garden, which is just about the perfect balance of message and text. I'll admit to you right off the bat that I read the book once, and then put it away without another thought. Then I read the book a second time and my interest was peaked. About the moment I read the book a third time I was hooked for good. Peter Brown's story isn't what one would call exactly subtle, but what he's managed to do here is tell a good story without falling into the usual traps and trials so many environmental picture books have found themselves enmeshed in before. No small feat.

In a city like any city where the people spend their time mostly indoors, there lives a boy named Liam. A curious lad, one day Liam stumbles on a stairwell that leads up to some old railway tracks. Upon following the tracks he is delighted to discover a small patch of green in need of a gardener. Though at first he makes a lot of mistakes, Liam becomes better and better at helping the tough little weeds and flowers to grow. The garden, which is as curious as Liam, spreads. Sometimes in a good way. Sometimes in a bad way. And as people notice the growth they too are inspired to start their own gardens. Years later, the city is transformed and Liam (who has married and had children in the interim) is still there. Pruning and tending and happy. Inspired by the beauty of New York's High Line park (an old elevated railway recently converted into a lush garden) Brown tells the tale of a city melded with nature, producing something utterly new and entirely beautiful.

Does every story need a villain? It usually needs some form of antagonist, yes. Someone or something that stands between our hero and his goal. In this book, though, there isn't much standing in Liam's way aside from his own self-doubt and, possibly, the cold winter months that render the garden dead and brown. Considering the nature (ha ha) of the story, you would think that Brown would have been inclined to add some evil industrialist or Once-ler ala The Lorax. The funny thing is that the lack of a bad guy doesn't hurt the book. Some are bound to be put off by the easygoing nature of the story, but since it's starting from a point of conflict I don't feel an overwhelming need for Brown to add to that. As Liam's fighting decay with wildlife, that's your essential point of conflict right there. A villain with a twirling moustache and shiny pinstriped suit would be out of place in this book.

I've always been a sucker for industrial beauty. It's probably why I'm such a huge Ezra Jack Keats fan. Now there was an author/illustrator who knew how to capture the beauty of rust and machinery and graffiti. The city was a raucous riot of color under his hand and everybody knew it. Peter Brown's book actually does something similar, though his intentions are different. The beauty of the city is still here, but it's the beauty that comes when the manmade mixes and melds with nature. Railway lines into long gardens. Rooftops sporting treetops. Ivy curling up chipped paint and abandoned walls. I still like to find beauty in abandoned tracks and rusted metal, but Brown's making a strong case here for the beauty of the abandoned in a whole new way.

In terms of the art, Brown is working here with acrylic and gouache on board. His style is so slick and smooth, though, that you might initially mistake it for computer graphics of one sort or another. It's a lot of fun to watch what Brown does with light and color too. Liam's hair is red, his eyes are blue, and at first he's the only spot of color in a dank, dreary, grey/brown world. Brown has also done a clever thing with the little tree that Liam begins by tending. It hasn't exactly been anthropomorphized (for all intents and purposes this is a fairly realistic story) but Brown has drawn the leaves in such a way that it looks like the tree has closed its multiple eyes and smiled with multiple smiles. It's not an obvious detail, but it gives the story a certain friendliness you might miss on an initial pass. In fact, if you look closely, you'll see that at the end Liam is now an adult and the text reads, "And you could always find Liam in the place where it all began." Sure as shooting, there he is, tending to that same tree, no longer a little shrub but a great big impressive, and still smiling, companion.

There are little things about the art that flicker on the outside of your eyeballs without ever directly catching your eye entirely. The smog, for example. It's everywhere. You don't even notice it on a first or second reading. Look closely, though, and you'll see that pernicious brown soot and smoke lurking in the corners of each page's borders. It starts as early as the title page, like the dirty fingerprints of a polluted sky. In lingers on the edges of every page until you reach the final two-page spread. It's still there, mind you. Licking the edges of the left-hand page. But as your eye moves slowly to the right, you might notice that the brown fug evaporates. As this story takes place in an industrial town, it would be too much to expect that the population suddenly found a new industry to support themselves, but Brown has hidden little hints as to why there might be less air pollution. Maybe it's the abundance of trees soaking up the carbon dioxide. Maybe it's the windmills, which have apparently been constructed out of the old smokestacks of a factory or two. Alternative clean air energy? Maybe so. In any case, it provides parents with an excuse to talk to their kids about pollution in cities and the different ways of getting rid of it.

Of course the book this reminded me of the most was probably Home by Jeannie Baker. In both books, industry is tackled by those citizens who take an interest in natural beautification. Folks have embraced this book as an environmental tale, and I suppose that it is. But I really do believe that its purpose, first and foremost, is to simply tell a good story. If you happen to learn a nice lesson as a result, that's all well and good, but the tale is key here, not the message. Brown has created his best picture book yet. One that is bound to be enjoyed and loved by families for generations to come.

For ages 4-8. ...more

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Mar 12, 2019 Jim Gorman rated it it was amazing

Shelves: childrens

I really love this book. The art is very nice and I love the idea of how one boy and some plants he finds on and abandoned railway line can take a dirty old city and make it green again

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Jun 08, 2010 Ann rated it it was amazing

Shelves: childrens-stories, absolute-favorites, favorites, picture-books

So many of my friends had spoken so highly of this that I was afraid by the time I read it I'd be somewhat disappointed. I'm very pleased to say that I was wrong. Even with all the "hype" this little book still managed to touch my heart by the second page and hold me till the end.

What I love about this book, is not only the wonderful idea of a garden as something of a sentient being, wanting to explore the green-less city around it, but also how the young gardener in the book is such a happy boy ...more

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Apr 12, 2010 Crystal Marcos rated it it was amazing

Wonderful book to add to any children's collection. Love the story of the little boy who brought beauty to his city. I think children will find it fun to read about a child who cared enough to tend to a garden on an abandoned railroad. This little boy's act of kindness spreads beauty throughout the city. The illustrations were lovely and classic. I enjoyed the author's note at the end and finding out what inspired him to write this charming story. ...more

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May 28, 2018 Jamila rated it really liked it

although i like the idea and the story telling, it sadly doesnt make it u to my top fav's by Peter B. ...more

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May 10, 2019 Abigail rated it really liked it

Recommends it for: Readers Looking for Children's Stories About Urban Renewal & Green Spaces

Shelves: childrens-ecology, picture-books, gardens

In one of those lovely coincidences of timing, I picked up The Curious Garden, which came highly recommended by a friend, just one week after the departure of a visiting cousin from Texas. In town to see the Frank Lloyd Wright exhibit at the Guggenheim Museum, he was also quite keen to take a look at the new High Line Park, on Manhattan's west side.

Newly opened to the public (at least in part) this past June, the park uses the old elevated High Line train-tracks, built in 1930 and derelict sinc ...more

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Jun 28, 2014 Tricia Douglas rated it it was amazing

Shelves: book-for-children

A very cute picture book about a boy who lives in a drab city with no color. He finds a corner near some old railroad tracks where a few weeds are growing and decides that these plants need a gardener. As the weeks roll by and he helps the plants grow, a garden appears. Along with the color from the plants, the city also looks a lot better. The garden spreads and more people begin planting gardens. It's a beautiful book with a simple story, but one that children will see as exciting and able to ...more

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Apr 04, 2010 Amy rated it it was amazing

Shelves: kids-books

A perfect picture book that gives a magical feel to the act of improving one's own little place in the world. Liam begins taking care of some neglected plants by the railway and a whole garden crops up. In time, the neighbors are inspired to create their own green places, and the dull gray city is transformed. Based on the Highline railway in Manhattan that was abandoned in 1980, this book is sure to inspire nature lovers everywhere! ...more

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Apr 25, 2009 Merry rated it it was amazing

Recommends it for: children - baby to 2nd grade

Recommended to Merry by: BOTNS

Charming little book about a boy named Liam, who creates a garden in an unlikely place. A nice story with quality illustrations to match. Add a packet of seeds and/or some small child gardening tools with this book for a wonderful children's gift. ...more

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Jul 21, 2010 Kathy rated it really liked it

A delightful picture book about a boy who creates a garden on abandoned railroad tracks. This book was a hit with my kids.

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Dec 23, 2015 Chaise Carter rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2015, library-school

My favorite picture book that I read this year.

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Aug 24, 2020 Lisa rated it really liked it

Shelves: children

This is a picture book, so shorter than I usually review, but I wanted to remember it. The illustrations really make the book; we got it on loan through the library but read it on a device that could show the illustrations, but I think hard copy would be even better.

It’s a very short read; we live in a city and my son really liked gardening on our porch, so it had some fun relevance for us. My favorite part was the tie in with the High Line natural space in Manhattan in the author’s note at the ...more

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Aug 12, 2018 Meredith rated it really liked it

Shelves: read-in-2018-short

Delightful read. I love how it connected to the Highline in Manhattan. I think it was also really cool that the book was printed on recycled paper. It spoke to the importance of nature in our lives without being preachy. A very accessible message for all ages.

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Jun 27, 2013 Sassy rated it really liked it

Shelves: meta-picturebooks, storytime-gardens, author-study-brown

I used this book for garden themed story times in May. With detailed, intricate drawings, it is not the best for this purpose, especially really large groups (for me that means more than 20-25 children) but the story read well and the colors are vibrant.

The Curious Garden is about a little boy who lives in a dirty, smoggy place who happens to stumble upon a patch of plants on some abandoned tracks. He tends to the plants and they begin to grow vertically and horizontally. They follow the tracks ...more

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Apr 24, 2013 Lonna Pierce rated it it was amazing

A perfect choice to read aloud for Earth Day, this quirky picture book is a delightful account of one boy who changes the world by making it greener, one garden at a time. A decrepit old elevated train track is transformed into a public green space by a combination of curious magic and one child's earnest efforts. This greenery spreads throughout the city and inspires more young gardeners along the way. The book can be paired nicely with Sarah Stewart's "The Gardener," and is a perfect segue to ...more

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Mar 06, 2018 Luisa Knight rated it it was ok

Shelves: read-aloud-revival, childrens-seasons, picture-books, children

A story about a little boy that finds an abandoned railroad track and nurtures the plants that grow there.

Ages: 4 - 7

**Like my reviews? I also have hundreds of detailed reports that I offer too. These reports give a complete break-down of everything in the book, so you'll know just how clean it is or isn't. I also have Clean Guides (downloadable PDFs) which enable you to clean up your book before reading it! Visit my website: The Book Radar. ...more

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Jan 10, 2012 Brenda rated it really liked it

Shelves: picture-books

A story about a boy who stumbles onto some plants that are trying to survive on an abandoned railroad tracks. What ensues is a passion within the child to garden and tend to the plants, while bringing beauty to a dreary city. I love how the illustrations are layed out on the page. Especially the one with the overhead bridge with the railroad tracks on them.

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Sep 23, 2019 Joanna rated it it was amazing

Shelves: to-buy

Oh, what a delightful book! One little boy's natural draw to the outdoors and his curiosity lead to entire city blooming and returning to the outdoors. And not only is the little boy, Liam, curious, but his garden is curious as well. The garden curiously explores the city as Liam learns to take care of the garden. And more and more gardeners begin to pop up as the garden spreads and spreads. I particularly like that even though winter covers his garden in piles of snow, that doesn't stop Liam fr ...more

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Jun 24, 2017 Marigold rated it it was amazing

Recommends it for: Bill McCullough

Shelves: environmentalism, picture-books, professional-development, childrens

Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful book that I already know I will want to read again for the pure pleasure of the whimsical illustrations, quiet message, and character growth as an old railroad track winding above a city transforms into a green garden with the help of a little boy, Liam. Would be great for a longer read-aloud or lap book.

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Dec 31, 2017 Nicole rated it it was amazing

It's a picture book, but it struck me as much as anything else I've read recently - maybe more. The story and illustrations have the makings of a classic. If you take the story as a metaphor, it can be applied to just about anything that makes the world a more human-friendly place. A nice coffee table book for anyone trying to find and nurture a little bit of hope. ...more

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Apr 03, 2020 Luna rated it it was amazing

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Jun 07, 2020 Diane rated it it was amazing

In typical Peter Brown style, a book with deep meanings. Read it, think through it, and know that you can make a difference - one at a time.

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Oct 07, 2020 Maggie Panning rated it it was amazing

My son and I love this book. We have read it many, many times. A beautiful look at how a child could change the world.

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Dec 15, 2018 Garrett rated it it was amazing

Shelves: story-time

Gotta work on that urban canopy.

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About Peter Brown

Peter Brown

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Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

Peter Brown is an American writer and illustrator who is best known for children's picture books.

"Peter has always loved telling stories. Growing up in New Jersey, he told stories by drawing whimsical characters and scenes from his imagination. Then, as a teenager, he fell ...more