Esi Edugyan’s debut children’s book, Garden of Lost Socks is a heart-warming story about friendship and community. When Akosua, who doesn’t have many friends, meets a boy in her neighbourhood named Max, they hit it off immediately. Akosua is a determined and talented “exquirologist” (an expert finder), and Max is a journalist who documents what he finds. Max happens to have lost his favourite sock, and Akosua is determined to find it. Through their inquiries and investigations, their complementary talents help them solve their case, and their friendship grows.
As a teacher, I love the way Akosua and Max find a way to combine their individual talents to find a solution. Edugyan also provides a great model for emerging writers through Max’s “Breaking News” segments where he makes observations around him and documents them in headlines and sketches.
“Edugyan’s story shows how the best friendships are often the ones that are complementary.”
Edugyan’s story shows how the best friendships are often the ones that are complementary, where we can be ourselves and accomplish things together. Common interests are essential, and finding ways to explore them together helps solidify our friendships. Her story is also about community and how we come together to support one another.
Amélie Dubois’ illustrations are vibrant and whimsical, and scenes of community and what it means to be a community are nuanced and embedded within the children’s adventure through their neighbourhood; the trees wearing knitted socks, the community garden, and the local shops, all show what kind of neighbourhood the children live in and how the neighbours have come together to make it a safe and inviting place to grow up.
ESI EDUGYAN is author of the novels The Second Life of Samuel Tyne and Half-Blood Blues, which won the Scotiabank Giller Prize, was a finalist for the Man Booker Prize, the Governor General’s Literary Award, the Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize, and the Orange Prize. She lives in Victoria, British Columbia.
- Publisher : HarperCollins (Aug. 29 2023)
- Language : English
- Hardcover : 32 pages
- ISBN-10 : 1443464732
- ISBN-13 : 978-1443464734
