A Garden of Creatures

by Sheila Heti, Esmé Shapiro (Illustrator)

Overview

A tender and deeply moving picture book about loss and the big questions it leaves behind from New York Times bestselling author Sheila Heti and acclaimed illustrator Esmé Shapiro.

Two bunnies and a cat live happily together in a beautiful garden. But when the big bunny passes away, the little bunny is unsure how to fill the void she left behind. A strange dream prompts her to begin asking questions: Why do the creatures we love have to die, and where do we go when we die? How come life works this way? With the wisdom of the cat to guide her, the little bunny learns that missing someone is a way of keeping them close. And together they discover that the big bunny is a part of everything around them — the grass, the air, the leaves — for the world is a garden of creatures.

With its meditative text, endearing illustrations and life-affirming message, A Garden of Creatures reveals how the interconnectedness of nature and the sweetness of friendship can be a warm embrace even in the darkest times.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780735268814
Publisher:	Tundra
Publication date:	05/10/2022
Pages:	40
Sales rank:	517,451
Product dimensions:	8.80(w) x 10.20(h) x 0.41(d)
Lexile:	AD600L (what's this?)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

SHEILA HETI is the internationally acclaimed author of the novel Motherhood, which was shortlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize and named a Best Book of the Year by the New York Times, Vulture, NPR, and Chicago Tribune, among others. She also wrote How Should a Person Be?, which was named a New York Times Notable Book as well as the story collection The Middle Stories and the novel Ticknor, which was a finalist for the Trillium Book Award. She was a lead writer and editor for the anthology Women in Clothes, a New York Times bestseller and was named one of "The New Vanguard" by the New York Times; a list of fifteen women writers from around the world who are "shaping the way we read and write fiction in the 21st century." Her books have been translated into twenty-two languages. Sheila lives in Toronto.

ESMÉ SHAPIRO grew up in Laurel Canyon, California and Ontario, Canada. A graduate of The Rhode Island School of Design, Esmé is a past recipient of both the Nancy Lee Rhodes Roberts Scholarship and The SILA West 53 Gold Award-Phillip Hayes Scholarship. She has previously written and illustrated Ooko, which was nominated for a Governor General's Literary Award in 2016, as well as Alma and the Beast, which received two starred reviews, and, most recently, Carol and the Pickle-Toad. Esmé also illustrated Yak and Dove by Kyo Maclear and Eliza: The Story of Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton by Margaret McNamara. She has exhibited at The Society of Illustrators, and her work has been featured in Taproot and Plansponsor magazines. Currently she and her dog, Chebini Brown, live in New York's Hudson Valley.

Editorial Reviews

03/28/2022

Three creatures—“a little white bunny, a bunny the color of toast, and a rose-and-buttercream colored cat”—live in a garden filled with delicate flowers and grasses. But death is present, too. The toast-colored bunny dies quietly, a page turn into the story, and after the burial and a surreal dream in which their friend appears alive, the white bunny asks a series of questions: “It is hard to believe that every creature who lives must die. Why does the world work that way?” The beauty of their surroundings softens the pain of the creatures’ bewilderment as the cat replies, “We are all the same as each other because we all ask this question and wonder.” Contemplating the dream, the bunny realizes “A friend who dies hasn’t left.... They become the garden and we live in them.” In a final verdant image, Shapiro (Carol and the Pickle-Toad) visualizes the idea that the departed hold the living with a spread that shows the white bunny and the cat in their garden, all enfolded safely in the embrace of the toast-colored bunny “in a way they couldn’t quite understand.” It’s hard to find a nontraditional way of thinking about death, but Heti (Pure Colour, for adults) and Shapiro offer tranquility and solace. Ages 4–8. Author’s agent: Jim Rutman, Sterling Lord Literistic. Illustrator’s agent: Charlotte Sheedy, Charlotte Sheedy Literary. (May)

Publishers Weekly

One of CCBC's Best Books for Kids & Teens (Fall 2022), Starred Selection

“The discussions are thoughtful . . . and the vivid illustrations offer the animals a soft place to contemplate and heal. A beautiful and unconventional meditation on loss and love.” —STARRED REVIEW, Booklist

"It's hard to find a non-traditional way of thinking about death, but Heti . . . and Shapiro offer tranquility and solace." —Publishers Weekly

"Equally suited to preemptively explaining the concept of death to a young person or bringing comfort to a child dealing with loss, this picture book strikes an excellent balance of honesty and empathy. . . . [A] true gem." —CM Reviews

"[A] tender way to consider loss and the uncertainties that arise when a loved one dies." —Sal's Fiction Addiction

"Bracing in its unsentimental directness." —Jewish Currents

From the Publisher