When it comes to children's literature, Chris Van Allsburg is most certainly my favorite author and artist. As far as I can tell, he has written and illustrated over twenty books at this time. The Garden of Abdul Gasazi was the first. For me to select my favorite among his collection of stunning work would be quite impossible. I will say that not one book the man has written has not touched me in one way or another.
The Garden of Abdul Gasazi is a rather simple story at first glance. A young boy is left in charge of watching Miss Hester's dog Fritz. It seems that Fritz is a bit of a naughty dog and had bitten dear cousin Eunice and was not longer welcome at her house.
After a nap, and a spell of guarding the parlor furniture from Fritz's chewing and biting tendencies, our young Alan takes his own nap and then takes Fritz for a walk. They encounter, after crossing a white bridge, a sign in front of a think hedge which read: "ABSOLUTELY, POSITIVELY NO DOGS ALLOWED IN THIS GARDEN" and at the bottom of this warning it was signed "ABDUL GASAZI, RETIRED MAGICIAN."
Well of course Fritz immediately breaks his leash and dashes through the gates of the hedge. Our young lad follows him where he encounters the strange magician! (And Abdul Gasazi doesn't like dogs... not one bit!)
THE SKINNY::: The Garden of Abdul Gasazi is a rather simple story at first glance. A young boy is left in charge of watching Miss Hester's dog Fritz. It seems that Fritz is a bit of a naughty dog and had bitten dear cousin Eunice and was not longer welcome at her house.
After a nap, and a spell of guarding the parlor furniture from Fritz's chewing and biting tendencies, our young Alan takes his own nap and then takes Fritz for a walk. They encounter, after crossing a white bridge, a sign in front of a think hedge which read: "ABSOLUTELY, POSITIVELY NO DOGS ALLOWED IN THIS GARDEN" and at the bottom of this warning it was signed "ABDUL GASAZI, RETIRED MAGICIAN."
Well of course Fritz immediately breaks his leash and dashes through the gates of the hedge. Our young lad follows him where he encounters the strange magician! (And Abdul Gasazi doesn't like dogs... not one bit!)
From cover to cover, the reader enters an enchanted world and is touched not only by the words, but most importantly, the wonderful art of Chris Van Allsburg. There is not one picture in this entire work that is not completely captivating.
We are in this world, we are not. We are in our time, yet we are not. Reality and fantasy blend and it becomes difficult, if not impossible to separate the two.
One of my all time favorites here...no doubt about it.
The Ozarks
The Garden of Abdul Gasazi
- Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children
- ISBN-10: 039527804X sample pages available
Reading Information:
Word Count: 1,117
Page Count: 32
Accelerated Reading level: 4.0 / points: 0.5
AR Quiz: 53942
Lexile: AD580L
**Caldecott Honor Book**
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