Title: Secret Garden: Earth Child
Author: Veronica Red
Publisher: XlibrisAU
ISBN: 978-1-9845-0303-9
Pages: 26
Genre: Children’s / Body, Mind & Spirit
Reviewed by: Beth Adams
Pacific Book Review
Author Veronica Red has created another illustrated children’s book titled Secret Garden: Earth Child in which a young girl embarks to create a garden in her backyard, giving her plants and flowers a safe place to grow.
Bringing the methodology of planting flowers by first gathering the tools she will need, then deciding on the placements of all of her flowers, Veronica Red brings “forethought” to the situation for children to understand how to go about solving a problem. Once everything is ready, the girl proceeds to plant her flowers.
As she transplants into her new garden each of the varieties of flowers, a sweet rhyme and imaginative thoughts are brought to the readers’ attention. For example, the Frangipani flowers have five petals which remind her of a star which crowns it. Angelica flowers have white fluffy petals reminding her of angel wings. Daisies are fast growing and attract sparkling fairies, while lavender has a beautiful fragrance.
With the completion of the planting, the little girl admires her work as butterflies come down to see the new garden. Pride in her accomplishment is the little girl’s reward, as anticipation of the next springtime will see how her garden has grown. Although the task has its own beauty, the lesson of planning, having the right tools and supplies, actually doing the work and accomplishing the goal is the underlying theme of this book.
Along with the illustrations which create an unambiguous mental image of the steps taken, children can see and learn how to do things which require planning. They also will build confidence; as they see the little girl admiring her own accomplishment in the end.
Secret Garden: Earth Child is an excellent storybook for gift-giving for youngsters, enabling them to not only enjoy a happy story, but to build the right sequences of thoughts enabling them to plan and achieve results. Veronica Red has created a fine book to adorn the bookshelves of children everywhere flowers are grown. We can be of greater help to our children if we ourselves have a strong connection with nature.
