What can you create with a little chalk and a big idea? As Emma uses her imagination to draw a beautiful flower garden with sidewalk chalk, a tiny ecosystem develops outside her door, with real-life flowers that bud and bloom! Author and illustrator, Sally Anne Garland has created more than just a book in this delightful Picture Book as hope and joy are found in the real gardener of nature itself.
In The Chalk Garden Emma, has been busy creating beautiful chalk drawings in her back yard on the concrete walls and slabs. But the rain comes, and Emma watches all the delicious colours being washed away. Her hope is restored when one of the slabs wobbles underneath her and with her Dad’s help they take up the slab and see the tiny, crawling creatures underneath the slab. With a little help from a watering can, Emma watches as seed begin to shoot and then to flower.
There is real joy in this book as it shows us how we can always learn from the best teacher in nature herself. Emma’s hopes are revived, and her patience is rewarded as a new garden thrives and produces such a wonderful garden full of colour and chances for flowers and insects to thrive.
This is Sally’s third picture book with Sunbird Books, an imprint of Phoenix International Publications producing stunning innovative and original books for children. Look for the free downloadable activity sheets too.
Sally Anne Garland grew up in the Highlands of Scotland and went on to study Illustration and Graphic Design at Edinburgh College of Art. Now Sally lives in Glasgow with her husband and her son, enjoying walks and reading. Her other Picture Books are Stuck Inside and Share.
The Chalk Garden is the type of Picture Book I love as it leads you into the world from a child’s perspective and how a child can make such a difference. Lots of beautiful pictures woven around the text of this delightful story.
Sue Martin
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If you have ever felt so shy that you couldn’t even walk into the classroom or go and talk to new friends, you will totally understand how Nook feels. She is small and shy, and she likes to sit in the comfy space of a hollow tree. It was her favourite space, and she could lean back into the hollow and feel very space. Her friends would try and coax her out, but she just stayed there. 
