Join Brother William in his busy year - digging the snow, planting parsley, enjoying Midsummer Day, picking mulberries, treading grapes and putting up holly for Christmas.

This is a witty, colourful and fascinating diary that shows an illustrated year in the life of a medieval monk gardener called Brother William, who lives at Westminster Abbey. He is responsible for growing the food the monks eat and all the herbs used for medicines. We also meet his delightful dog, Rufus, who jumps up with his muddy paws on the Abbot’s clean black habit when he comes to visit the garden and who dances with Brother William on May Day to celebrate Spring.

 The writer and illustrator, Jan Pancheri, is Head Gardener at Westminster Abbey, so she brings her expert knowledge to this cheerful book. We are introduced to some of the Benedictine monks who lived at the abbey, the festivals that shape their year, their recipes and their rituals. This is all done with the lightest of touches. As the book is written in the style of Brother William’s journal, we move with him through the year, experiencing the special events in the busy monks’ lives. Children will enjoy the chapter on January, when the monks make a snowmonk and a snowdog, and when the Abbey is so cold “we make steamy breaths when we pray.” In March, William takes a bunch of daffodils to a monk in the infirmary, and on Good Friday the monks share an enormous hot cross bun for breakfast. We see the menu for St Michaelmas Day, when William has a day off and see how sage leaves from the garden help a monk’s sore throat, so that he can sing Advent songs. These little details help create a real sense of a loving religious community.

This is a charming ‘green’ picturebook that would make a perfect Christmas present. However, this is a book that you can appreciate every month of the year, with its warm illustrations, sense of wonder about the natural world and interesting historical information about medieval times. Woven throughout the book is the importance of sharing, working together and valuing others.

2009-06-19