A Garden of Creatures

March 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.

Starred review from June 1, 2022
Preschool-Grade 1 *Starred Review* Three animals inhabit a wild, flower-strewn garden: a little white rabbit, a bunny "the color of toast," and a "rose-and-buttercream colored cat." It appears to be an idyllic existence, but the toast-colored bunny soon grows sick and expires. A bereft child joins the remaining two animals to mourn and bury the rabbit, and the cat and bunny continue living together in the quiet garden. A dream about the toast-colored bunny prompts the white rabbit to wonder aloud where things go when they die, but the sympathetic cat doesn't speculate: "Nobody knows. But we are all the same as each other, because we all ask this question and wonder." The bunny has other questions, too, and the cat offers kind words but no certainty, suggesting that missing someone is a natural way of keeping loved ones close. Finally, the pensive bunny comes to her own conclusion: "A friend who dies hasn't left, like a creature leaving a garden. They become the garden, and we live in them." It's a sweet, secular sentiment and a gentle exploration of an enormous topic. The discussions are thoughtful but direct, with no euphemisms or straightforward answers. The cat and bunny have an easy, supportive rapport, and the verdant, vivid illustrations offer the animals a soft place to contemplate and heal. A beautiful and unconventional meditation on loss and love.

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