The Little Gardener

The Little Gardener

By Emily Hughes  
Published by Flying Eye Books

Being a huge fan of Emily's debut picture book, Wild (I reviewed the paperback edition earlier this month), I was ecstatic to find out she was doing a second book with Flying Eye. That second book is called The Little Gardener, and what a feast for the eyes it is! 

The story revolves around a garden, not the prettiest of gardens, but a garden nonetheless. Within this garden lives a little gardener, he lives for his garden, it brings him joy, it is his home. The only thing is, this little gardener wasn't particularly good at gardening, but he worked hard everyday, but it didn't make much difference as he was just too small to keep on top of it all. But there is hope in the form of one flower, a flower that has blossomed and stands proud amongst all the weeds and clutter. But despite all the little gardener's efforts, the garden was dying. He would lose his home, his food source and most importantly his meaning. So one night he makes a wish... (you'll have to read it to find out what happens!).

Compared to Wild, Emily's illustrations here feel a lot softer and rather delicate, but there's still the sense of wilderness with the choice of wild plants that appear in the garden. The Little Gardener has a vintage quality about it, from the earthy colour palette to the way Emily has laid out each spread by having the text appear underneath the illustrations - reminding me of Maurice Sendak's work.  

This is a wonderful second title from Emily, and I was expecting nothing less. The story is heartwarming and I adore the little gardener and his worm companion. Perfect reading for young and old alike.

The Little Gardener is available to buy from 1st June from all good bookshops and online from the Flying Eye Books website. 

Wild

Wild

By Emily Hughes  
Published by Flying Eye Books

I first bought Wild by Emily Hughes nearly two years ago when it was first published in hardback. It was possibly my first ever Flying Eye Books title I'd purchased, and in turn made me fall in love with their reputation to publish picture books that are a little bit different from the norm. Now two years on and a lot of re-reading and drooling over the delectable illustrations, the paperback arrives on my doorstep. And it hasn't lost an ounce of its magic. 

Wild tells the story about a little girl that lives in the woods, brought up by the animals that live there. From birth all she's been taught so far is what the animals in the woods have taught her. Bird taught her to speak. Bear taught her to eat. Fox taught her to play. And this all made her happy, until... she met some new animals in the forest that looked like her.

But the little girl thinks these new animals are strange and they think she's strange too. They did everything wrong. They spoke wrong, they eat wrong and they played wrong. And she wasn't at all happy. So she decides not to stick around, destroying the house and taking the pet cat and dog with her!

I couldn't shake the feeling that the deep down moral for this tale centred around children that may have a bit more 'energy' than that of other children, and that it shouldn't be punished as they can't exactly help it. As well as bringing up how it can be tough for some children to fit in to new environments. All in all a good thing to help parents and children understand each other that little bit more.

I can't recommend this book enough, this is a must by for every bookshelf! It's a simple story that children will love, and Emily's 'wild' illustrations really bring the action to life. Wild is available to buy now in paperback and hardback in all good bookshops and on the Flying Eye Books website.