What does one do in a situation that ends up containing major change and required adjustment? “The Gardener,” written by Sarah Stewart, and published in 1997 by Farrar Sirous Giroux, is a picture book that happens to voice the answer to our question. (3)Clearly seen as a children’s book, it contains more than just a happy, obvious ending. (4)Setting the stage, the Author introduces a girl, Lydia, living in the country in 1935, in the big black midst of the Great Depression. (2)With uncertainty, Lydia, leaves her peaceful homestead, and steers her into an unknown and bleak future. However, her bleak future eventually turns into a bright one, as she ends up turning sadness into joy not in the country’s depression, but in the depression of a certain
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(3)Compassionately, as was her hug to Uncle Jim at the end, Lydia shows her tenacious perserverance throughout the book, not willing to give up on Uncle until she reaches her desired outcome, seeing his radiant smile..On pages 15 and 16, we see how bold, confident and determined she looks to see her Uncle’s smile. Another example is the hope seen in her eyes and face on page 23, thinking, “I just know my Uncle will smile when he sees his surprise.” Also, throughout the book, not only does she express her desire in action, but also in words, as she relentlessly exclaims, “I hope Uncle Jim smiles.” These examples make the climax definitely predictable but also enormously powerful, as Lydia patiently waits for her Uncle’s shifted mood. (2)With the climax containing these two emotional feelings, this tale falls into the theme of inspiration, on how if you keep trying at something, good things will happen. Good things, more often than not, can become the emotional driver in the story, and Uncle Jim’s change provoked by Lydia continuing to try stands out as such. What is so magnificently unique here, is how Lydia takes a situation, and makes the most of it, where any other person’s instinct would be to get upset and question, or to complain. Perserverance, which Lydia takes and shines it like a light in a dark cave, proclaims in the book, like a huge banner that states one thing, Love, and that love is the answer to any troubling
(3)Compassionately, as was her hug to Uncle Jim at the end, Lydia shows her tenacious perserverance throughout the book, not willing to give up on Uncle until she reaches her desired outcome, seeing his radiant smile..On pages 15 and 16, we see how bold, confident and determined she looks to see her Uncle’s smile. Another example is the hope seen in her eyes and face on page 23, thinking, “I just know my Uncle will smile when he sees his surprise.” Also, throughout the book, not only does she express her desire in action, but also in words, as she relentlessly exclaims, “I hope Uncle Jim smiles.” These examples make the climax definitely predictable but also enormously powerful, as Lydia patiently waits for her Uncle’s shifted mood. (2)With the climax containing these two emotional feelings, this tale falls into the theme of inspiration, on how if you keep trying at something, good things will happen. Good things, more often than not, can become the emotional driver in the story, and Uncle Jim’s change provoked by Lydia continuing to try stands out as such. What is so magnificently unique here, is how Lydia takes a situation, and makes the most of it, where any other person’s instinct would be to get upset and question, or to complain. Perserverance, which Lydia takes and shines it like a light in a dark cave, proclaims in the book, like a huge banner that states one thing, Love, and that love is the answer to any troubling