Rose Meets Mr. Wintergarten

Another wonderful story by Bob Graham that shows how children can attach amazing imaginings to mundane things, and teaches us to take some time to get to know our neighbours - life can be better when you do!

This is an appealing little book, short and to the point. It is the story of Rose which is told partly in pictures and partly in descriptive text. For instance the first image is clearly of Rose's family moving into a new house, with Mr Wintergarten's sinister house next door. It is a great way of getting children to talk about what is happening, there is lots going on and you can set the scene (along with children playing and kicking a ball over Mr Wintergarten's very high fence). I really liked the message in this which is great for pre-schoolers. Rose loses her ball over the fence of Mr Wintergarten's house, and the children start telling her horror stories of how awful she is - first she asks them not to because the baby can hear, and then she goes in and talks to her Mum who helps her take things over to Mr Wintergarten. Mr Wintergarten is very rude to Rose, but Rose is always polite and leaves when nothing more can be said - but she has made an impression, and Mr Wintergarten comes back and makes friends with the neighbourhood. The last picture is of Mr Wintergarten's fence being taken down. Populated with appealingly illustrated characters and situations, a great story and an excellent message. It is a fun and funny book and my children love it. A definite 5 stars from me.