Uno's Garden by Graeme Base

Uno's Garden by Graeme Base is a picture book about a man who ventures in to the forest and decides to live there. Eventually a lot of other people find they love the forest and start to move in until their are no trees and no animals left. It is a great book for younger children as it raises awareness of pollution, over population and conservation. It also involves some mathematics so children can see the imbalance between animals and trees and buildings. The illustrations in this book are amazing, they are so creative and imaginative. There are many imaginary animals living in this wonderful looking forest with crazy names that will make them giggle. 

Base starts off by setting the scene in the forest and then begins to create a build up to the climax of the story in which the people realise they do not like living without trees around them. It then resolves as Uno finds the last of the animals in his garden, which he managed to save, and his children begin rebuilding the forest.

This book is great as it conveys a message about pollution and the development of cities on forest lands. The little bits of maths helps children understand numbers in the context of balancing the number of animals, plants, buildings and people in one place. I would recommend this book for children of 2 up to 10.