<i>The Invisible Garden</i> by Valerie Picard is a cute, illustrated tale about a young girl who has gone with her parents to her grandmothers birthday party. As the adults all catch up and talk, Arianne unfortunately finds that there are no other children there and she quickly grows bored. Soon, it's suggested that she should go out and play in the garden.

The story follows Arianne's exciting exploration of the garden, one that blossoms and grows as her imagination gets the better of her and suddenly the garden has become so much more than what it was initially. Arianne both shrinks and grows as she explores, dives deep within the water to follow some fish and even travels up into the stars.

By the end of the story, she is found in the garden fast asleep, her imagination taking her dreams to fantastic places. And as she leaves, young Arianne happily wishes that she will visit her grandmother again soon so she can once again have fun in the garden.

<i>The Invisible Garden</i> is cute and is an excellent portrayal of a child's impressive imagination. Aside from that, there really isn't a whole lot to the story. The illustrations are nice, but not the sort that I fell in love with. I definitely find it impressive that the author put together so many images and does such an amazing job of portraying what a bored child looks like and does. Overall, I enjoyed the story, but I didn't love it.

<i>I was provided a free copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.</i>

ARC Copy...Minimal words and lush illustrations tell the narrative of a bored girl exploring the surreal wonders hidden within a family's garden which takes her beyond time and space.

This book just goes to show that a little imagination goes a long way. The illustrations are absolutely beautiful and show beyond words what can come from our minds when they're set loose in Grandma's garden.

Highly recommended.

The Invisible Garden was such a breathtaking picture book that we can not help but to fall in love with this book. The book captivates and reflects such a strong message that it is brilliantly done with such colorful pictures. All of our young patrons will go crazy for this picture book and we can not wait to show it to them.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. We will definitely consider this title for our J Picture Book collection at our library. That is why we give this book 5 stars!

Traveling by car from the city into the country, a young girl named Arianna arrives at her grandmother’s house to celebrate grandma’s birthday. When grandma suggests that Arianna go into the garden to escape all the adult conversation, she does. Initially the garden seems to bore her, But, once she falls asleep, she has some intriguing adventures. When she shrinks in size she is a able to chase insects, climb plants, ride on a dandelion, swim with fish in the pond, chase dinosaurs, and even catch a star. Not bad for what looked like it was going to be a boring afternoon. Eventually, she is called back inside. This is a fine book for reading and retelling, since the imaginative illustrations do much of the storytelling and young readers need to find the clues to tell the story.

Just finished reading/ looking at the children's book The Invisible Garden by Valerie Picard. I had trouble looking at the illustrations and understanding what the author was trying to show with them. There were few phrases, those too seemed out of place. Had the illustrations been colorful garden plants with insects and lizards this would have been much more interesting to both the reader and the child listening and looking at the pictures. While I spent many years with children's literature in the elementary school library or with my boys reading day and/or night I have encountered books that are heavily illustrated as this was. In most cases there is a path that a child can follow through these artistic illustrations along with flowing verbiage to keep interest. I found none of these.

The Invisible Garden tells the story of a little girl who goes to visit her grandmother who lives in the countryside. When adults get together, there is often very little for a child to do but be bored, so they sent her out into the garden to play. Picard tells the tale of everything that Arianne finds in the garden through a series of wonderfully drawn pictures.

While the book is intended for 3-5 years old, when it is published, it will definitely be sitting on my bookshelf.

This book has the most beautiful illustrations!

There isn't much in the way to read, but the pictures do a masterful job telling a story all on their own, of a little girl going to visit her grandmother's house, and ultimately finding herself bored.

That is until she visits her grandmother's garden.

Filled with imagination, and adventure, this book certainly calls to the child in all of us, with visual images that entice you to stay with each page just a bit longer. Themes include play, imagination, and discovery outdoors. Loved it!