Review by Booklist Review
Are ghosts real? If you ask the boy and grandpa in this quiet, enigmatic book, the answer is decidedly yes, though perhaps not in the way you might expect. The ghosts this pair looks for live in craggy corners of the garden, rustling in leaves and darting from the shadows--maybe they're animals, maybe they're something else. Maclear's spare lines beautifully evoke the contemplative, observational tone of the story, emphasizing the still moments when the boy and his grandpa pause to look, listen, and remember. Maurey's foggy, shadowy paintings, full of dusty hues of pink, blue, green, and purpley gray, softly render a garden settling down into the colder seasons, with fallen leaves and branches littering the ground. While they look for ghosts, Grandpa tells the boy about what the garden was like when he was a child--a large forest nearby, a cool stream trickling through--and while they hear sounds of the city all around, the memory of the old days of the garden still imbues the present with its past magic. It's a subtle yet poignant meditation on the animating power of memory, both in the sense of the garden's importance and the way the boy and his grandfather find wonder in those stories and memories together. A gentle, artful, and quietly enchanting book with a matter-of-fact embrace of change and the passing of time.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
This gentle meditation on change and memory by prior collaborators Maclear and Maurey (The Specific Ocean) opens with the title phrase, spoken by the work's child narrator. A gouache painting shows a ghostly image; it's the young protagonist, seen behind sheer window curtains. Quiet, desaturated spreads in cream, moss, and sand set the story in a garden of sculpted forms as child and grandfather contemplate the work of the ghost, who sometimes leaves tracks and knocks over pots, and sometimes deposits small treasures, like a tiny statuette they find in a bird's nest. Grandpa's memories feel a bit like ghosts, too, the book reveals. The big forest has been reduced to a strip of trees, the stream he used to swim in is gone ("I sometimes think I can smell it and feel its coolness," the child remarks), and an old bathtub in the garden has disappeared. Yet he knows where they are: "He says memory has a geography just like the world." The day before the visit ends, the child and Grandpa build a new place to listen for the stream in this contemplative journey into a realm where past and present reside cheek-to-cheek. The characters are portrayed with pale skin. Ages 6--9. (Oct.)
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Review by School Library Journal Review
K-Gr 3--Maclear's latest picture book is a gentle meditation on the often magical relationship between grandparents and grandchildren. A grandson, who seems about eight, is vacationing with his grandfather, when he witnesses signs of a ghost in the garden. Small gifts appear, objects move or are broken, but nothing is witnessed. His grandfather opines there are likely lots of ghosts in the garden. He reminisces about a stream, trees, and plants that were there in his childhood--more ghosts. Together they gather the ghosts' gifts and make an end-of-visit project together. The focus is on the intergenerational bond and love between the two and how their time together is steeped in creativity and memory. This feeling is deepened by Maurey's light-filled gouache illustrations, which draw readers into examining each page to find hidden ghosts, some clearly from the grandfather's childhood. It's a soothing bedtime story or a useful way to open a narrative about loss and remembrance. VERDICT The sensitive treatment and outstanding illustrations warrant a recommended purchase; this is a loving story with beautiful artwork for a broad audience on the importance of grandparents and memory.--Jessica A. Bushore
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
There are ghosts all around us if you look hard enough. When a child stays with a beloved grandparent, the two spend their time working in the garden. The youngster, who narrates, notes that there's at least one ghost residing in their green space, evidenced by overturned pots and little trinkets left behind. As Grandpa and child, both light-skinned, continue to work, they reflect upon the whereabouts of these phantoms, on times gone by ("at the back of the house…there was an old bathtub…I would sit in…enjoying the sun like a sleepy turtle," Grandpa tells the child), and on the beauty of just being. As the child's visit comes to an end, the pair re-create the bathtub from Grandpa's past using the very flora they so lovingly tended to; they sit in it and contemplate together. This quiet yet powerful book perfectly captures the emotional resonance of fleeting moments and the imprints they leave behind. Maclear's stunning text is lengthy yet deliberately paced ("memory has a geography just like the world"), suggesting the meandering feeling of revisiting memories. Rendered in a light, earthy palette, Maurey's dreamy gouache illustrations are a natural complement to the text, further evoking feelings of stillness, remembrance, and the strong yet gentle bonds of family. A subtle but potent look at the ephemeral nature of life--and a reminder to cherish memories.(Picture book. 5-8) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
