The Princess in the Kitchen Garden

by Annemie Heymans, Margriet Heymans

Feeling unappreciated for all the hard work she has done since her mother's death, Hannah runs away to Mama's old kitchen garden in a tale involving a princess, a hungry goat, and a windstorm.

Genres: Childrens, Picture Books

48 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1991

About the author

sister of Margriet Heymans

Reviews

[Samantha Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Princess in the Kitchen Garden has such an exciting design! With a mixture of full bleeds, bordered and cut-out illustrations, continuous narration, color and shading, the illustrators' work is fascinating. It's not enough to look at these images just once! At points it's challenging to tell the order of the images and little pieces of text, but it just makes it more fun to read, like a puzzle! The story itself is intriguing too because we get to experience three different perspectives: the little girl's, her brother's, and their mother's--although, we only hear the mom's voice since she is no longer alive. The siblings each tell a story that is their own, and the mom's insights to both stories entwine those two stories into one overall plot. This unique book is one of my favorites!

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

What a sad and depressing book. I really felt horrible for the young characters in this book, and Hannah and her brother Matthew were left to handle their grief of losing their mother after their father falls into a deep depression. I think I found this book to be so upsetting because it is completely realistic- sometimes tragedy is so hard to cope with for adults and children are left to figure it out for themselves. I loved the images of this picture book and how they were so subtle in design but played such a great part in the story.

[Brianda Cruz · Rating 3 out of 5]

My sister thought this story was to sad to tell to little kids like her becasue it is to sad to think young kids lost their parents obviously my sister didn't say it exactly like that but i twicked it a little. This story goes in deep that the children basically don't have a mom she passed away and even though they still have a dad it doesn't seem like it because he isn't paying them attention. They basically take care of themselves and try to make their life work with out their mother.

[Katie Nanney · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book made me tear up. The story of two motherless, young children and a distracted father made me cry a little. The poor kids were to take care of themselves while their father worked. I couldn't help but feel sorry for those kids. I would recommend it for anyone who has lost a parent.

[Shanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kind of a strange book to read a child, but a really nice story overall.

[Michelle White]

I think this book was a fun read. I got it from the IUS Library.