In this picture book we see how a topiary artist manages, one topiary at a time, to bring beauty to the lives of people who so desperately need something in their world that will uplift them.
The Night Gardener
Terry and Eric Fan
Picture Book
For ages 6 and up
Simon and Schuster, 2016, 978-1-4814-3978-7
Grimloch Lane is a rather sad place. The homes are
ramshackle, weeds grow up through cracks in the sidewalk, and the people who
live there don’t really connect with one another. One night, while everyone in
the lane is asleep, a man gets to work on one of the trees that stands outside
the Grimloch Orphanage.
When William
looks out his window in the morning he sees that something is going on outside
so he goes to investigate. What he discovers is that someone has clipped a tree
next to the orphanage so that it looks like a beautiful owl. William is entranced
by the topiary owl and he gazes at it all day long. When he goes to sleep that
night he does so “with a sense of excitement.”
The following
morning another tree on Grimoloch Lane has been turned into a work of art. This
time the topiary makes the tree look like a cat at rest.
Each day a new topiary appears, and now the
people living in Grimloch Lane have something to look forward to. They gather
to admire their beautiful topiaries and “Something good” starts to happen to
everyone who sees the special trees.
We tend to think
that real change can only happen when something really big happens, but
sometimes change can come about when a little piece of magic is added to our
lives. As the story in this book unfolds, we see how the introduction of beauty
affects the people who live in a place that has so little beauty and happiness
to offer. Best of all, the instrument of change is not someone who is rich and
powerful, instead he is a humble person who just happens to have a gift for
turning already lovely trees into gorgeous works of art.
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