Amelia keeps to herself and doesn’t speak to the people in the flats around her, as they are often from other countries, but this decision makes her very lonely. The people who live in the flats look down into her garden - remembering special times of their own, often in places far away, and long to have a backyard again.
One day a big storm comes and knocks down Amelia Ellicott’s fence, destroys the garden and sends the chicken house flying. She is trying hard to clean up in the rain, all by herself, until she sees all her neighbours from the flats have come to help her.
This is a beautiful, simple story of community and the importance of other people in our lives. It illustrates perfectly the joy we can bring to others with a little thought and the courage to reach out to each other. And it is filled with gorgeous illustrations - with baby chicks you feel you could pick up off the page and cuddle.
Warning: This story is so moving to some that it can bring on tears and a croaky voice whilst reading. A few practice runs without the children may be advisable.
Title: Amelia Ellicott’s Garden
Author: Liliana Stafford
Illustrator: Stephen Michael King
Publisher: Scholastic Australia
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 1-8650-4802-X
For ages: 0-8
Type: Picture Book
