Hello, friends! Our book today is The Rough Patch by Brian Lies, a heartbreakingly lovely story about loss and healing.

Evan and his faithful dog did absolutely everything together. They played games, shared treats, went exploring and on long drives, always side-by-side. The thing they loved the most was working in Evan’s beautiful garden, working day in and day out to grow healthy, happy vegetables and plants. That is, until one terrible morning when Evan’s dog is suddenly… gone, and the farmer must lay his friend to rest in a corner of their garden. Heartbroken, Evan shuts himself inside, no longer interested in tending his plants. In desperate grief, he emerges one morning and hacks to garden to pieces, destroying the healthy, fertile plants and letting sharp and stinging weeds take over the soil – since he is bitterly sad, so too will the garden be. That is, until a small pumpkin vine wheedles it’s way in, and begins to change everything.

Powerful. Using the garden as a moving metaphor for emotional and mental state, especially after a traumatic loss, Lies spins a deeply poignant story about overcoming depression, and does it well. Most impressively, the story walks a delicate line that encourages the reader not to let their sadness poison what makes them happy, yet promises that if they do, this is a normal and understandable reaction, and there is still hope. It’s such an important message, and beautifully done: Evan’s vine eventually grows a massive pumpkin, which brings him to the fair, where he reconnects with old friends and activities that made him happy. The compassionate, atmospheric art is pitch perfect, and the attention to detail superb. The length is great for any age, and we loved it – an affecting tale with an important message, and Baby Bookworm approved.

(P.S. – I wish I could introduce Evan to Victoria Turnbull’s Pandora – I think they’d make great friends.)