The Curious Garden
Peter Brown
Little, Brown and Company, 2009

Liam lives in a city that is very dreary because it lacks gardens, trees or greenery of any kind. One day, while on a walk, Liam explores an old, abandoned railroad track and discovers that some plants and flowers have tried to grow there but they need help. Liam decides to help by watering and pruning them.

Little by little, over the course of a few months, the garden grows to cover all of the railroad tracks and then expands into other areas of the city. Accompanying the growth of the garden is a surge in the number of gardeners and soon, the city is transformed by gardens.

An interesting characteristic of this story is that the author personifies the original garden. For example, the garden waits for Liam to learn to be a gardener, the garden grows restless and curious, and the garden decides to explore every corner of the railroad and beyond. The illustrations evoke a city of long ago rather than a modern metropolis but the message about the impact that one individual can have on his/her environment is an important one.