Enchantment in the Garden

by Shirley Hughes

Book Overview

A child made of stone comes to life This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0688145973
• Release Date: January 1997
• Publisher: Lothrop Lee & Shepard
• Length: 58 Pages
• Weight: 1.20 lbs.
• Dimensions: 11.5" x 0.8" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

Ignore the Editorial Reviews!

Okay, okay, to a point I agree with the above editorial reviews that rather unkindly ground this book into the dirt, as Shirley Hughes's 'Enchantment in the Garden' *is* a little clumsy. Most fans of her work are used to her famous 'Alfie and Annie Rose' books, where the small delights of childhood are emplified through her warm, inviting paintings. Therefore some people might be disconcerted that her trademark chubby, rosy-cheeked toddlers are replaced by two young people on the verge of adolesence, with touches of a premature romance between them. However, that should not stop the true beauty or fairytale lover, and if given half a chance, I believe this poignant tale has all the makings of a beloved classic.Valerie is a young girl who is drastically lonely - she has no friends, her father (who we never see in the book and is only mentioned once) works in the hotel business, and her mother is a 'beautiful American... who breakfasted late, then drove out to meet her friends'. Therefore, on one of her regular walks through the park with her governess, she declares her love and friendship to her favourite stone statue - a youth riding a dolphin - and names him Cherubino. The following day, the statue is gone, leaving only the stone dolphin, but on running away through the hedge garden, Valerie finds none other than a flesh-and-blood Cherubino before her!After she rescues him from the dark, stale orphanage, Cherubino takes up residence in the gardener's home, where the two children meet by night to discuss all manner of things. Here is when Cherubino reveals he is the son of a sea god, who had been a stone statue for many hundreds of years (unfortunatly, we never learn how this occured or why) before being freed by Valerie. Accompaning Valerie and her family on a visit to the seaside Cherubino is angered by the use of the beach - hotels and villas and automobiles and runs away. Valerie despairs of ever seeing him again, till by night he returns once more, explaining to her he is going to return to his homeland, making it green and fertile once more, but leaving her with some beautiful parting words: "Sea gods can love humans sometimes, you know...And when we do, we have very long memories." With the promise of one day being together once more, Valerie finds the stone dolphin (now desposited in the untended gardens of the park) and together, they await Cherubino's return.As you can see, the story is not filled with climaxes and surprises - I did not mean to write out the entire summary in this review, but found I had to because there are no dramatic points to leave the reader hanging with. It is mellow, calm and meandering - a book to be read on a lazy summer day, not as a bed time story. In some way, it is like a fine wine - it grows richer each time you read it, resonancing deeper each time - I myself get more moved at Cherubino's parting with Valerie and his promise for the future. This is the positive way of looking at the story - some may feel