April’s Garden
Publisher: Graffeg
When April and her Mamma move to a room in a big house, it doesn’t feel very much like home, and there aren’t any other children there. However, there is a big garden outside, and a lady brings some toys for April, including some stacking cups for a baby.
When the lady brings some magazines for Mamma and April, Mamma suggests that she fill up the pots with mud from the garden and plant some of the seeds that came free with the magazines.
One day, Mamma and April get to move away from their room in the big house, and finally find a home of their own. And, when they move in, April’s flowers start to bloom.
This stunning story about a mother and child starting again is very touching, and could possibly represent the experiences of mothers and children forced to flee abusive homes, or of refugees starting again in a new country. Echeverri’s illustration begins with dark, scribbled pages of rain and darkness, and gradually get lighter as the story progresses and as April’s hope returns. Beautiful and heartwarming.
