Uno’s Garden by Graeme Base

Hi, I read Uno's Garden by Graeme Base and this is how the story went..

On the first day of Spring Uno finds a forest with trees and animals including a Snortle Pig. Uno decides to build a hut there for him. Uno has children so he builds more buildings for them, he build’s himself a little garden and in his garden lives his Snortle Pig. Other people follow Uno’s lead and it starts to create a village. More buildings are built for more people.

Hunter’s come and try to catch the animals, this starts to show the beginning of people taking over. Tourists come to see the animals and the village turn into a town. More buildings are created for the tourist and the village has less space. People build a railway so they can see the animals quicker, which mean more buildings and less space for plants. Scientist come to research the animals, but the animals disappeared because the buildings take over the forest and there is less space for animals and plants to grow. A fisherman comes to the river next to the city, all he finds is a car tyre and get sick, the growth of the city created a demise of the forest and town becomes a city.

One morning people wake up and all they can see is buildings, they feel upset. The city becomes abandoned because it’s too dirty and polluted.

Uno still lives there in his garden and living with him is his Snortle Pig. Many years go by and they pass away, but Uno’s garden remains there. Uno’s children look after the garden and build more environmentally friendly homes. The more the children take care of the area the animals return to the area, but no snortle pig returns. Over the years all the animals return to the garden and they build envirohabitat pods and the grandchildren continue to maintain a sustainable future by building an equal amount of building to plant and animal ratio. By the first day of Spring the forest is created with perfect balance. The enviroconservational balance is maintained to create a perfect area, however a Snortle Pig never returns.

This book has excellent illustrations, there is a grid of all the trees and animals on every page. The book starts with lush green forest and many animals. As the trees and garden grows so does the animals. More building and people that come to the area the fewer animals there are. The plants and animals decline to zero. When the children take care of the forest the animal and plant numbers begin to increase until the first day of spring when the numbers resume back to its original status.

This picture book creates an entertaining way to teach children about sustainability in the environment and the reasons why it is so important. I would definitely recommend this picture fiction to primary school students as this text meets the learning criteria for environment and sustainable futures.

http://www.graemebase.com/publish/index.html
lesson plans: http://www.curriculumpress.edu.au/rel/sustainability/unos-garden.php
http://www.penguin.com.au/products/9780670041916/uno-s-garden

Heather