My 7-year-old daughter did a painting project last Friday. Her inspiration for the project was based on a book we read together-The Imaginary Garden by Andrew Larsen; a fantastic book about a girl and her grandfather who create an apartment garden with paints instead of seeds. I brought the book home from school two weeks ago and we read it together. I guess the book affected her more than I knew. My husband has extra canvases at work and it was something she worked out with him. She painted it for her room, above her bed where she recently asked for the old print of a Maxfield Parrish to be taken down. I was a little crushed as I love Parrish’s work but we took it down. Apparently she had other plans-her very own plans-for that wall space! Before she unveiled it on Friday night
We never know as educators and/or parents what book will touch a child in a certain way…it is an amazing marvel when they have a positive reaction and send that love back out into the world. I’ve commissioned her to paint another one for my room. Isn’t her painting lovely…her own imaginary garden! Don’t you just love it…
Kids Can Press synopsis of The Imaginary Garden–click here.
Peaceful Reader 