The Gardening Dog

In the rescue centre one little dog is different from all the others. Unlike them she doesn’t bury bones, chase balls or dig holes and in contrast to the rest of the pooches, she is quiet, a tad shy and has been a resident for a long time.

Because of her love of growing plants, doing so whatever the weather, everybody called her the Gardening Dog.

One morning a bus load of schoolchildren arrive at the centre. Among them is Lewis, who like the Gardening Dog is shy and he doesn’t join in with the other children; preferring to spend his visit sitting drawing. Come lunchtime the Gardening Dog approaches Lewis nervously, telling him how much she loves the boy’s pictures. Lewis in turn responds that her beautiful garden was the inspiration for his art. This gives them both the confidence to spend the afternoon together and when Lewis leaves, he gives his new friend one of his pictures and in return receives a plant from the Gardening Dog with instructions to watch and wait, something wonderful will happen.

This Lewis tells his mum and she suggests that as they don’t have a garden, they could plant it in the patch of ground beside their home and the boy does so, remembering to follow his canine friend’s instructions.

Several days later a flower blooms. So begins the creation of a new garden. Lewis returns, enlists the Gardening Dog’s help and little by little, with work and patience over the months into autumn and through winter, they wait and watch until eventually the garden becomes a gorgeous community place where everyone loves to spend time.

Rather than it being the end of the relationship between Lewis and the Gardening Dog, though, their friendship leads to a new start for both of them; that too was most definitely worth the wait.

An uplifting story wherein the illustrations both large and small are full of delightful details that will make both children and adults smile.