One memorable top-view illustration depicts the boy standing small and alone, pondering how his destructive actions have hurt the old man. Light-filled watercolour paintings bring the parallel settings of past and present to life and capture the intense emotions of the characters. Reader sympathy for the plight of the characters is evoked through dense but poetic language that eloquently describes events such as, after the garden trashing, the old man is “tenderly picking up the broken pieces and setting them in a pile at his feet” while the child tries unsuccessfully to apologize, “his feet. He later makes amends by helping to replant it every year, even after the elderly man moves into a nursing home. A flashback recounts a childhood incident in which the father and his friends thoughtlessly destroyed an old man’s garden. This story within a story begins with a father and daughter planting their annual garden. Picture book, fathers and daughters, forgiveness, gardens, illustrations (watercolours), intergenerational relationships, mischief, neighbours, story within a story Add these, and others you know, to an anchor chart.
Look through the text to find gardening words. Find a way to show how their relationship evolves. With a partner, draw a mind map of the story.ĭo a character map of the father when he was young and one of Mr. Bellavista. What were the consequences? What evidence is there of this in the text and illustrations? Share your ideas with the class. Retell the story from the point of view of Mr. Bellavista.ĭiscuss how the boys’ game did not turn out very well. What evidence is there of this in the text and illustrations? Share your ideas with the class.
Work together with a partner or group to determine what message the author is trying to convey. Why do you think the father tells the story to his daughter every year? Are there any stories that your parents or relatives tell you over and over again? What feelings are conveyed in the illustrations? Take a picture walk and notice the characters.
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