Johnny Crow's Garden

Johnny Crow's Garden was a perfect book for visually and verbally alert kids when I was tiny (about 1964). It's still vigorous; I relocated it and have it on our bookshelf today. Leslie Brooke is a great illustrator and his simple story speaks, over nearly 100 years, with universal chuckles and themes to keep us amused while turning the pages. Read it to your children as my mother read it to us, and the words will stay all your children's lives, prompting them to seek out more books.

"Johnny Crow's New Garden" continues L. Leslie Brooke's fantasy, started in "Johnny Crow's Garden," anticipating "Johnny Crow's Party." The illustrations, drawn by the author, bridge the gap between the day-to-day world of reality and the often-forgotten world of dream time. Each page illustrates one or two lines of poetry, each stanza ends with "In Johnny Crow's Garden." After reading the book these words echo in the reader's and listener's heads as sleep overtakes them. I'd copy the books, but the colors (some of the illustrations are in color, most are line drawings) are so subtle that no copy machine can reproduce them. While "Johnny Crow's New Garden" was only in print from 1935 to 1970, I hope that all of Brooke's work will be available to our grandchildren's grandchildren.