Everyone said how beautiful and delicious her pumpkins were.
Never a blemish. Never a pumpkin that wasn’t perfectly shaped, perfectly coloured.
From the moment Clara produced her first pumpkin, everyone told her she was brilliant. For only a master gardener could grow such flawless pumpkins.
Safe inside her glasshouse, Clara grows perfect looking pumpkins. When she is visited by a boy with a bumpy looking pumpkin she starts to worry about the effect of the outside world on her own pumpkins, and becomes paranoid about letting the outside world in – until she realises that perfection isn’t always what it seems.
This clever picture book story uses a tale of pumpkins to explore concepts of perfection, perception and paranoia with a whimsy that will draw readers in and, in primary aged readers (and older) will lead to discussion of these concepts. At the same time, though, it is simply a feel good story, with delightful digital illustrations which manage to leap out of the page as if three dimensional.
Suitable for classroom use and personal reading.
The Glasshouse, by Paul Collins & Jo Thompson
Ford St, 2010
ISBN 9781921665042
This book can be purchased in any good bookstore, or online from Fishpond. Buying through this link supports Aussiereviews.