"On Tuesday Nana comes by for
dinner. "I think I spotted some
plants in the big pile of junk,"
she says.
She walks over to investigate
and finds three!"
In this companion book to The Imperfect Garden, Rowan is on a neighborhood walk with his mom. He likes the color blue and takes note of blue cars and a blue jay as they stroll along. He is surprised to see that his neighbors are bringing things from their house outside on this Saturday morning. His mom suggests that the family must be moving, and won't need those things at their new place.
Rowan wonders what will happen to the stuff they are leaving behind them. Once again, his mom surmises that it must be going to the dump. It is a lot to throw out, Rowan reasons. As he watches from the window, he notices that Mr. Chan is having a look at the trash, and takes a chair with him knowing he can fix it.
That sparks a memory in Rowan for something that happened at school: they had been talking about landfills and the overcrowding there. The class discussed reducing, reusing and recycling. Rowan notices others stopping for a look, and taking something they could use. Even his nana has a look at the plants that are there, and she decides to save them from being tossed in the garbage.
"Well, don't you know ... some people might
think these are ready for the dump, but they
are now a treasure to me," she says.
Could Nana be right?"
Rowan continues to watch the pile getting smaller. Finally, he asks his mom if they can have a look. He's very happy to find some toys to take home with him. The next time the two are out for their Saturday walk, they add to their list of what they should be watching for ... treasure!
Simply told in a way that will encourage discussion in young readers, this is a book that speaks to the old adage: one person's trash is another's treasure.
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