The Concrete Garden by Bob Graham

The Concrete Garden,  an uplifting story about hope and the power of creative expression by Bob Graham has been shortlisted for the Early Childhood Book of the Year! What a gem of a book with so much to offer teachers and students during the lead up to Book Week. At my school we plan to use this book as a focus for reading and creativity while exploring themes of community, resilience and the power of a vivid imagination. Hopefully, every class will make their own chalk garden and we then can have an 'expo' where classes get to visit other classes' gardens.

Amanda comes out of the unit block with a box of chalk and together with other children, on every inch of the pavement outside, they draw pictures of flowers and trees, mushrooms and snails, and a few very unexpected things. It’s a concrete garden. Their creativity, unfettered in the open air, brings something beautiful, something hopeful, to the residents there.

The concept of drawing with chalk on concrete is not a new one. There are other picture books that explore the wonder of chalk drawings, where some even have a piece of chalk that is able to do magic.

The Magic Chalk  by Norwegian author, Zinken Hope was first published in 1949.

A boy named Jon finds a piece of chalk, dropped by a witch, and uses it to draw a stick man on a fence, not knowing that it is magic. The stick man becomes alive and says his name is Sofus. Jon draws a door and together they enter a garden full of talking animals, some of whom they help out using the magic chalk. 

The newer versions of this idea, though are so much better.

  

The Chalk Garden  by Sally Anne Garland

What can you create with a little chalk and a big idea? As Emma uses her imagination to draw a beautiful flower garden with sidewalk chalk, a tiny ecosystem develops outside her door, with real-life flowers that bud and bloom!

Chalk  by Bill Thomson

A rainy day. Three kids in a park. A dinosaur spring rider. A bag of chalk. The kids begin to draw...and then...magic! The children draw the sun, butterflies, and a dinosaur that amazingly come to life. Children will never feel the same about the playground after they experience this astounding wordless picture book and the power of the imagination.

Chalk Boy  by Margaret Wild and Mandy Ord

This book was shortlisted for  CBCA Picture Book of the Year, 2019

Barnaby is a pavement artist. This morning he started drawing me. I have a head that can think, eyes that can see, ears that can hear and legs that can run. Best of all, I have a heart that can feel. Thank you, Barnaby. 

Chalk Eagle  by Nazli Tahvili

A young boy living in the heart of a busy city spots an eagle swooping overhead, and dreams of what it would be like to fly away from the noise and to soar over mountains and rivers. Using a little chalk he draws his own eagle - and then himself - into existence. The two fly away together, and embark on a wonderful adventure of the boy's own imagination.

The Case of the Red-Bottomed Robber!  by Richard Byrne

The young chalks are busy at the chalkboard but someone keeps stealing their drawings . . .Mrs Red calls Sergeant Blue to investigate but when the culprit is caught, he absconds in a cloud of chalk dust. The chalks find another way to lure the suspect into their hands and it is only then that they discover they've misjudged the poor chalk rubber all along . . .

The Boy, the Troll and the Chalk by Anne Booth and David Litchfield

Only one child cannot turn their back on the troll at the edge of the playground. One day, he takes his chalks up to the mouth of the cave. He draws a flower with every petal coloured in but one, and leaves the chalk behind. The next day, the flower has been completed. Day-by-day, the boy and the troll finish each other's drawings, until they each draw a portrait, showing a boy holding hands with a fierce, scary troll. "But you're not a troll," says the boy. "You're a boy - just like me."

How to by Julie Morstad

This imaginative 'how to' book explores whimsical ways of doing a host of different tasks, including 'how to wonder', 'how to see the breeze' and 'how to be brave'. It is not only about chalk, but an entree to other imaginations as well.

A Piece of Chalk  by Jennifer A. Ericsson and Michelle Shapiro

A world of possibilities in an ordinary box of chalk... What would you do with a brand new box of chalk, and a whole driveway as your chalkboard? What would you draw? This little girl draws a red brick wall for starters, then a yellow sun, a brown bird and more. ..

If you are looking for  ideas of what to do on concrete with chalk here are some good ones, and a whole Pinterest here.

Your library might also have this: