• The Garden of Inside-Outside
  • The Garden of Inside-Outside
  • The Garden of Inside-Outside
  • The Garden of Inside-Outside
  • The Garden of Inside-Outside
  • The Garden of Inside-Outside
  • The Garden of Inside-Outside
  • The Garden of Inside-Outside
  • The Garden of Inside-Outside
  • The Garden of Inside-Outside
  • The Garden of Inside-Outside
  • The Garden of Inside-Outside
  • The Garden of Inside-Outside
  • The Garden of Inside-Outside

The Garden of Inside-Outside

Illustrated by Régis Lejonc
Translated by Sarah Ardizzone
£10.00 £12.99


NOMINATED FOR THE KATE GREENAWAY MEDAL 2021

In the summer of 1981, Chiara and her family join their father in Tehran. He has been made Italian ambassador to Iran, and their home is a palace with a wild walled garden where princes and princesses used to live. Real ones, not the sort you find in made-up stories.

Before our arrival, the garden was neglected. The princes and princesses had been driven out, and the huge iron gates locked. The city where this secret garden belonged had collapsed into war…

Inside the garden walls, there are pomegranate trees, tall grasses hiding all kinds of insects, and a pond with a carp that is one hundred years old. Outside, where the city monster breathes darkly, there are bombs and soldiers with heavy boots and big beards. One day, a boy called Massoud climbs over the wall and makes friends with Chiara. They don’t speak the same language, but together they invent the kingdoms of Outside-Inside and Inside-Outside. Is their secret safe, though?

Inspired by the author’s childhood, this junior graphic novel is a beautiful evocation of an unexpected friendship between a girl and a boy, on either side of war and peace.

 

CHECK OUT THE FOLLOWING FREE RESOURCES ON OUR WEBSITE:

  • Introduction by the publisher (video)
  • Interview with the author (video) - with questions from Cogan Primary School
  • Interview with the illustrator (video)
  • Interview with the translator (video) 
  • Art class with the illustrator (PDF): draw your own marvellous garden in eight steps
  • Drama activities (PDF), including suitcase stories and soundscapes
  • Narration of the story
  • Teaching notes written by Dr Ann Alston

 

REVIEWS

This is an unusual, uncompromising narrative both textually and visually. The kind of narrative that only burgeons within a culture where gate-keepers are held at bay. {
Library Mice}
 
Perfect for those looking for something a little different, ‘The Garden of Inside-Outside’ is a thought provoking read with appealing illustrations. {North Somerset Teachers’ Book Award}
 
This graphic novel is proof that it is necessary to relive your past and to share this with others. {Karl Andy Foster for the Association of Illustrators}
 
This deserves a truckload of awards, one of the most impressive books about the many facets of war and the way it affects everyday lives, no matter what side you're on. {Read It Daddy} 
 

Customer reviews

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Ages 7+/Adult
Origin France/Iran
Pages 32
Publishing date April 2020
Size 215 x 330mm