12th May World Topiary Day

Topiary is the shaping and cutting of small-leaved trees and bushes into geometric shapes and forms which resemble common objects and people. It has absorbed gardeners for centuries and is enjoying a resurgence, with celebrities and influencers often sharing their love of this gardening art form and means of creative expression.

Levens Hall in Cumbria UK, is home to the world’s oldest topiary garden, designed by Monsieur Guillaume Beaumont and established from 1694. 

It is not so common in Australia, as gardens here are not overly formal. However there are lots of wonderful plants that suit topiary, depending on the desired look. Shrubs, trees and climbers can be used in topiary, including camellias, Australian native plants such as lilly pillies and westringia, climbers like ivy and star jasmine, and conifers. Japanese box (Buxus microphylla var. japonica) is one of the best plants for topiary. It's an evergreen shrub with a compact habit and attractive bright green glossy foliage.

Can you celebrate topiary using picture books? Of course.

I often read Chris van Allsburg's book In the Garden of Abdul Gazasi to Year 2 students and they are very keen to talk about the shape of the trees and find out their is a word for what is done to the trees.

Read these four books.

• The Garden of Abdul Gasazi by Chris van Allsburg

Alan accidentally allows Miss Hester's dog Fritz to enter a magician's garden and is horrified when he thinks Fritz has been turned into a duck. 

• Grandpa Green by Lane Smith

Grandpa Green wasn't always a gardener. He was a boy who lived on a farm and a child who had chickenpox. He was a soldier, a husband and, most of all, an artist. Follow his grandson through a garden where memories are handed down through the shapes of topiary trees and imagination recreates things forgotten. 

• Night Gardner by The Fan Brothers

One day, William discovers that the tree outside his window has been sculpted into a wise owl. In the following days, more topiaries appear, and each one is more beautiful than the last. Soon, William's grey little town is full of colour and life. And though the mysterious night gardener disappears as suddenly as he appeared, William and his town are changed forever. 

 

 • The Green Ship by Quentin Blake

When two bold adventurers climb over the wall to explore the overgrown garden next door, the discover a ship made of bushes, with tall, thin trees for masts. They also meet marvellous Mrs Tredegar, who turns them into a fully trained crew, and with their imaginations at the ready, they embark on a series of glorious voyages.

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:

SDG 11 Sustainable Cities and Communities

 

Goal 11 - Make cities inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable.

Did you know that more than half of the world’s population lives in cities? Even though cities only make up 3% of the earth’s land, more than 3.5 billion people live in cities today, and that number is only growing.

As more people make cities their homes, it is very important to focus on making cities safe, inclusive, and sustainable. Are there footpaths in your city? Are there enough jobs and homes for everyone? Is it safe for your family to walk at night? Is the air in your city clean? Are the parks taken care of?

Select a book from here.

This book, Out of the Way! Out of the Way! by Umi Krishnaswami appears on many reading lists so if your library has it, it is a very good place to start.

Here's the blurb:

A young boy spots a baby tree growing in the middle of a dusty path in his village. He carefully places rocks around it as the local mango seller rushes past shouting, "Out of the way! Out of the way!" As the tree grows bigger, people and animals traverse the path until it becomes a lane, flowing like a river around the tree -- getting out of its way. Over time, the lane becomes a road, and a young man crossing the road with his children remembers the baby tree from long ago. By the time he is an old man, the tree has become a giant. The city traffic continues to rattle past, noisier and busier than ever, but sometimes the great tree works its magic, and people just stop, and listen. 

Two other books that allow for discussion of life in a city are these two by Sydney Smith.

Small in the City      and              Footpath Flowers

       
                   

And lastly, perhaps look at a book that is about greening the city or growing things. These two both work well.

The Curious Garden  by Peter Brown   and   Errol's Garden    by Gillian Hibbs

                           

  Tasks  for the booklet: 

Before reading, say: How we live affects the city. Ask: What do we do that hurts the city? What do we do that helps the city?

 

• We read...

 

• This story made me want to ...