the maybe garden

"She has an immaculate garden, my mother." With these words a boy
steps out beyond the neat, quiet and predictable rows
of his mother's garden into fanciful notions of his own plot.
When mother suggests that he begin with the usual avocado
pit that will grow into a tree, her son responds,
"Maybe I will. Maybe I will plant an apple tree and
tie balloons to all the apples so when they are ripe they
will fall softly to the ground." To each of the ensuing expert-to-beginner
recommendations, his imagination answers with gardens
springing from childlike enchantment. In the end, the
expert gains some of the beginner's vision and plans her own
"maybe garden." Burke-Weiner's transparent, unself-conscious text
and Spillman's saturated oil pastel illustrations--though
verging on the garish--appear to grow from a single seed.
This is a universal story of the power of creativity
to infuse serious knowledge with life."
from: Publishers Weekly

(click to enlarge)

In 1995, I was a participant in a collaboration

with 13 other people to put our interpretation
of 2 pages each, of this story together and was
made into a handmade, accordion style book.

Wish I could show you the inside, but
this style of book isn't made to scan.


no longer available