The house at number 9 Ardent Street is such a sad looking house. With a slightly sunken roof and windows like tired eyes, this house is the one that the neighbourhood kids find a bit scary. As the kids pass it on the walk home they always pick up the pace to get past it quicker. Everyone except Sadie.
One day, as Sadie passes the house, a ginger cat sits outside looking for a smooch. Sadie obliges, giving it a rub along its back and having a chat. When the cat runs over the gate and into the yard of the house, Sadie follows. As Sadie runs through the yard, past the sad house, her friends follow.
The garden is overgrown and dark and they discover all sorts of old things within it to enjoy. When Sadie finds the cat, it is resting on the lap of an old woman sitting on a rickety bench. She is ‘bent with time and weariness’. Sadie sits next to her and begins to tell her about her day and life. She brushes the cobwebs from the old woman’s face.
As the sun begins to drop in the sky, Sadie’s friends remember their chores and head home. Sadie puts her head on the old woman’s lap and falls to sleep. ‘And within the woman a deep memory of life and love floated to the surface.’
This is a most beautiful story. It’s about being open and curious. How when the young connect with the elderly it can give rise to life and joy. How what is dark, overgrown and scary, if we are look further, can be full of discovery, adventures and happiness.
Freya Blackwood’s softly coloured illustrations in The Garden of Broken Things are simply beautiful and evoke all the emotions that sit so very perfectly with the story.
A special book.
Reviewed by Rowena Morcom
Age Guide 3+
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Down the back of our place, next to the chicken coop, is my studio. It’s really just a big shed with lots of cobwebs around the windows. It is my favourite place in the world. Inside my studio I have the extraordinary good fortune to work as a picture book illustrator. I get to illustrate books written by some of Australia’s best known authors including Libby Gleeson, Margaret Wild, Nick Bland, Jan Ormerod, Danny Parker and Mem Fox.
Unsure of where in the world I belonged but always happy making things, I tried several jobs and hobbies before discovering illustration. Everything changed for me when I was offered the opportunity to illustrate a picture book called Two Summers. The story was written by John Heffernan and published by Scholastic Press in 2003.
Ever since then I’ve been enjoying the amazing journey of learning all the ways you can illustrate a picture book.
Along the way I’ve illustrated heart tingling books like Amy & Louis, written by Libby Gleeson, and adorable bedtime books like The Runaway Hug by Nick Bland. I’ve illustrated tear jerkers like Harry and Hopper, written by Margaret Wild and the recipient of the 2010 Kate Greenaway Medal, and timely stories like My Two Blankets, written by Irena Kobald, which won the CBCA Picture Book of the Year in 2015. And I’ve also tried my hand at illustrating my own stories such as The Great Rabbit Chase.
I love the challenge of illustrating different picture books, designing the characters and the world, finding the right colours and materials to suit the story.
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