'The best books, reviewed with insight and charm, but without compromise.'
- author Jackie French

Wednesday 28 November 2018

Review: Garden Stew


I have fond memories of spending endless hours in my grandparents’ garden mixing my own stews in the bird bath and this book brought those memories flooding back.

This is a beautifully bright and happy book, with bold and charming illustrations that put you right at the centre of the fun and help kids engage with the garden environment and explore all the different leaves, flowers twigs and even creepy crawlies that can be unearthed.

The story has a nice rhythm to it, following the cute animal characters as they collect their kitchen utensils, set up a picnic in the garden with their toys and collect all the things around they garden they need for their garden stew. The text is rhyming with a repeated refrain of ‘let’s make garden stew.

There’s nothing like that childhood joy of being free in the garden, mixing together leaves, flowers, dirt and feathers and anything else you can find to make that perfect garden stew. Kids will love the authentic fun to be had in this lovely little picture book. A great one for reading aloud.

Look out for our 12 Curly Questions with author Carrie Gallasch coming up next week.


Title: Garden Stew
Author: Carrie Gallasch
Illustrator: Zoe Ingram
Publisher: Little Book Press, $14.99
Publication Date: November 2018
Format: Soft Cover
ISBN: 9780648115649
For ages: 1 - 5
Type: Picture Book