world 8 of 8

In My Garden

“Look and listen. Everything is alive and singing.”

With Toto, The Wise Owl, Unicorn Star and Shhhhhhhhhh!

Book art: the day garden and, through the golden doorway, the night garden with the owl, the unicorn and the purple bunny
The story

How the world was found

The journey ends where it began: in the children’s own garden. By day it is magic, full of honey bees and rose petals and the happiest of trees. Butterflies dance, flowers delight in the golden rays, birds take flight. They all have a secret to tell, because they know so well how to celebrate life.

Then night comes. The Wise Owl appears with a twit tw-ooooo. Unicorn Star peeks from behind a flower. Shhhhhhhhhh!, who is the sound of quiet itself, whispers among the strawberries. The same garden, in a different light.

At night the magic garden rests and sleeps. It is bedtime now. Toto falls asleep, and the garden keeps singing in his dreams.

A word from the author

“All eight worlds were always leading back to the garden. I wanted the last page to be a child asleep, safe, with the whole adventure tucked inside their dreams. Nothing you love disappears at bedtime. It goes on singing, quietly, until morning.”

Jaany

Draft for Jaany to replace in her own words: how this world came about, and what she hoped it would give a child.

Lines to keep

The words that do the work

“My garden is magic.”

An ordinary garden, seen properly. The magic was never somewhere else. It was in the bees and petals outside the back door.

“They all have a secret to tell: how to celebrate life.”

Nature as the teacher. The bee, the butterfly, the bird and the tree each carry a small lesson in joy.

“In my dreams is where it will keep.”

The last line of the whole journey. What you love does not vanish at night. It keeps, safely, in your dreams.

What this story helps with

What it gives your child

  • Mindful listening: be still, and hear the garden sing
  • Happy bedtimes, because sleep is a magic garden you enter
  • Knowing that what you love does not disappear at night
  • Seeing their own garden, street and park as alive
  • Coming home: the discovery that home was the wonder all along
Who you will meet

The characters of In My Garden

The Wise Owl in a scene from the book

The Wise Owl

deep listening

He appears as the sky turns purple, with a twit tw-ooooo on the tree. The Wise Owl is night wisdom: the gift of listening before speaking.

Unicorn Star in a scene from the book

Unicorn Star

the bridge to dreams

A white unicorn with a purple cape and a wand, peeking from behind a flower. She sprinkles the garden’s sparkles into Toto’s sleep, carrying the day into dreams.

Shhhhhhhhhh! in a scene from the book

Shhhhhhhhhh!

the sound of quiet

A small purple bunny among the flowers and strawberries. Shhhhhhhhhh! is quiet itself, personified. Not a telling-off, but an invitation to hush and listen.

Toto in a scene from the book

Toto

home, and asleep

Toto ends the whole journey asleep in his bed, the night garden glowing through the doorway beside him. The children came home transformed.