A Julia Eccleshare Pick of the Month April 2017 | Award-winning Lane Smith recreates the life story of a much-loved great-grandfather through wonderful illustrations of topiary in this beautiful and touching tribute. Memories of his childhood include his love of stories – illustrated by the Wizard of Oz characters cut into shapes in a hedge; the moment his desire to become a gardener is thwarted because he has to go to war the hedge becomes a cannon and cannon ball. Memories and imagination are brilliantly fused in this warm-hearted and original picture book. ~ Julia Eccleshare
Julia Eccleshare's Picks of the Month for April 2017
Grandpa Green wasn't always a gardener. He was a boy who lived on a farm and a child who had chickenpox. He was a soldier, a husband and, most of all, an artist. Follow his grandson through a garden where memories are handed down through the shapes of topiary trees and imagination recreates things forgotten. Grandpa Green opens the door to a garden of wonder which parents and grandparents will be able to share with children for generations to come.
An ode to the joys of a full life well lived as well as exploring some of the sorrow life brings, Lane Smith's Grandpa Green is a lyrical and sumptuously detailed delight, culminating in a giant fold-out page.
An unassuming little masterpiece ... the book's power lies in its rich, allusive artistry New York Times
Visually intriguing and emotionally resonant, this is a book to pore over and talk about. School Library Journal
Lush and magical People
Readers who slow down will be rewarded by this visual feast that grows richer with each visit Kirkus crafted with honesty and heart Publishers Weekly
Author
About Lane Smith
Lane Smithis the creator of a shelf of books, including the New York Times bestsellingIt's a Bookand its companion,It's a Little Book. The beautiful Caldecott Honor-winningGrandpa Greencan also be found there alongside his brilliantly quirky collaborations with John Scieszka:The True Story of the Three Little PigsandThe Stinky Cheeseman and Other Fairly Stupid Tales. He has also illustrated Roald Dahl'sJames and the Giant Peachand collaborated on the conceptual design of the Disney movie adaptation. In 2012, the Eric Carle Museum named him a Carle Artist for "lifelong innovation in the field of children's picture books" and in 2014 he was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Society of Illustrators. He also illustrated the exquisitely beautifulThere Is a Tribe of Kids. Lane Smith and his wife, the designer Molly Leach, live in a small town in rural Connecticut, USA.
