A young girl, a father and a dog – together yet alone since her mother passed away.
The house was a mess, the little girl Maya felt lonely and often sad and anxious.
But on one particularly sad day, her father tells her about the garden and how much it meant to her mother – especially when she was worried about something.
So grabbing gloves and boots Maya takes on the garden overgrown with weeds.
Maya tidies the garden and freshens the soil and we see by her face that she is relaxed and happier, doing something she knew her mother loved too.
Seeds are sown and hope is planted – then finally they grow.
Maya cared for the garden as much as she could, spending more time out there when she felt angry or upset and helping her father to spend time out there too.
Together they made the garden beautiful again and together they found hope – that despite all the darkness that they were feeling there was beauty in the world and because of the hope they had sowed – it had become even more beautiful!
The Garden of Hope is a story to read with anyone who has lost someone as it provides hope.
Together you can see that life can be beautiful despite all the darkness and that if we continue to do things that make us feel joy, place more beauty back in the world and support each other, life can be the joyous place that it is meant to be.
Death can be a difficult topic to talk about and books are a great way to start this conversation. You may not talk about much more than the story but it may ignite that small flame inside the young children to know that life can go on.
Keep this book to share with someone you know needs some hope in their lives.
