Cheri Anderson, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona

This week we want to share the picture book, The Imaginary Garden, written by Andrew Larsen, illustrated by Irene Luxbacher, and published by Kids Can Press, 2009. The author and illustrator are both from Toronto where the illustrator lives in an art-filled apartment, an important context for this Canadian picture book. Reviews of this book need to discuss the use of color and texture as connected to the themes of imagination and relationships.

Imaginary Garden is a touching story of a grandfather and his granddaughter, Theo. Theo loved the garden at her grandfather’s old house but Poppa has moved to the city and now lives in an apartment that is too small for a garden. Poppa and Theo decide to create a garden mural on his balcony. As the days pass, they fill the painting with the changes that would occur in a real garden. When Poppa leaves on vacation, Theo decides to complete the imaginary garden with the blooms of summer. This book is a warm story of the love between grandfather and granddaughter.

The book is delightfully textured with illustrations that combine pen and ink line drawings with collage and gouache paint. Irene Luxbacher used a variety of artist’s tools, including sponges to add texture to the paint, and multiple sizes of brushes that range from small delicate strokes to strong bold ones. Children will love the step by step directions for painting the jonquils and bird and will search for the application of this lesson within the illustrations.

Color becomes a metaphor for the shared experiences of the close grandfather and granddaughter throughout the book. This metaphor is even reflected in the pictures on the walls at the beginning of the book, where color is only added to those pictures of granddaughter and grandfather together and the city background remains as black-and-white sketches. Such attention to detail helps us to appreciate the creative thought behind the illustration process.

Luxbacher’s clever composition of delicate back and white ink drawings juxtaposed against the vivid paint strokes of the painted flower garden enables imagination to overcome the reality of an apartment building’s bland balcony. It is at the granddaughter’s suggestion that together they create the painted garden to ease the transition of her adored grandfather from home to apartment dwelling. This book will leave readers wanting to hug their grandparents and pick up a paint brush!

This picture book is an excellent example of how meaning is conveyed through illustrations that do not just enhance the text but are essential to creating understanding. A review that does not discuss the role of color and texture within this picture book is incomplete and inaccurate. Reviewers need to understand how the elements of art – color, line, shape, texture, etc. – are used to create meaning, as well as how the literary elements of character, plot, theme, etc function within a picture book.

Journey through Worlds of Words during our open reading hours: Monday-Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

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• Themes: Andrew Larsen, Cheri Anderson, Imaginary Garden
• Descriptors: Books & Resources, Debates & Trends, WOW Currents