Glass Garden

Joyce Dunbar, illustrated by Fiona French

Editions

Review

I had not seen The Glass Garden before my 4-year-old daughter chose it from the library one day.  It tells the story of a Venetian glassmaker whose wife dies of a bee-sting.  To protect his beautiful daughter from such a misfortune, he goes to takes her to live on a barren island.  But she is unhappy because of the lack of flowers, so he makes glass flowers, then glass butterflies, glass birds - a glass garden.  When she is older, she is mysteriously whisked away to the Carnival in a gondola where she meets a Stranger...

The story has echoes of The Snow Queen, The Sleeping Beauty and the Twelve Dancing Princesses, but it feels curiously fresh.  The pictures are wonderful, an unusual combination of silhouettes and striking colour.  This is an exceptionally delightful book. - review by Johnny de Falbe