The Chalk Garden
Sally Anne Garland
Sunbird Books

Having recently moved to a new home with a garden made almost entirely from concrete slabs, young Emma is excited to hear the sounds of birds in the next door garden but none ever comes to hers. So, she tries to create a colourful environment in her own backyard using her chalks but all that comes is rain washing off the drawings and leaving everything grey once more.

As she stands miserably thinking, that’s my chance of attracting birds gone, she notices something green poking up through a crack in the paving stones, one of which wobbles when she steps on it. She calls her Dad and points it out. Dad’s response is to move the slab. Emma is thrilled to see lots of minibeasts where the slab had been and so begins a process of rewilding an area of the garden.
Emma is an observant child; she notices when the soil needs to be watered

and little by little, green shoots start to push up, grown from the seeds blown in.

She loves the ants. spiders, ladybirds and other small creatures but one thing is still missing. Summer days are warm and the shoots explode into brightly coloured flowers that attract pollinating insects and Dad has to remove more slabs to accommodate the burgeoning wildlife. Still determined to attract feathered visitors, Emma makes a bird, bath, feeders and more.

Then finally she hears something she’s been waiting for and working for.

It’s lovely to see the changes taking place in the gorgeous illustrations of transformation and one hopes that children will be inspired by Emma’s efforts and, with parental consent, do some wild planting of their own so they too can become patient observers of the natural world.

A blooming gorgeous, gentle story that I’d strongly recommend for home and classroom sharing; and I think, Sally Anne Garland’s best so far.