A Weekend of GiveAways: Marigold and the Faraway Tree….

We promised a weekend of GiveAways and here is GiveAway number two. Let us introduce you to: Marigold and the Faraway Tree by Alison Fast and illustrated by Wendy Paterson…

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This is a sweet story of a gal called Marigold… who discovers a tree… the kind of tree that childhood is made of. This is a tree where dreams are dreamt, swings are swung… and the flowers are magical. This is a welcoming tree, of the cool shady kind on hot summer days and the warm cozy spot on cold winter days.

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The life of the tree, is interwoven with the story of Marigold… her friends and the real dilemmas that arise between little friends… friendships are restored, the tree follows the seasons… (spoiler alert) Marigold has to move, and her experience of moving away from her friends and tree are somewhat bittersweet, and as she says farewell to the tree… so the tree drops a leaf in her hands. The tree will go on…

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The first thing that you will love about this book is the beautiful illustrations… and my three youngest kids literally swooned over the bright colours and then magical sweetness of them… these illustrations are full of colourful hearts, and hidden animals: chameleons, and peacocks and nests filled with baby birds, little butterflies and bugs. There is lots and lots of loveliness to look at on every page.

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Another thing we love about Marigold and the Faraway Tree is that it is set in one of our local hang-outs: Imhoff Farm It is a place we have been visiting for years and years and years… we have spent many lazy days playing under huge trees, just like this one in the fields at Imhoff farm, picnics with friends, sketchbook afternoons and it is the place that we discovered how to make cheese. Oh the joy for a book set in your own neighbourhood. There is a lot to be said for culturally relevant stories for children. There are not many picture books about our actual neighbourhood, but I believe their is something fundamentally important about reading a story that you can literally get lost in. As we read this story we can hear the sounds of buzzing summer insects, the cawing peacocks, you can hear the horses in the field beside the tree chomping the grass… you can hear the tinckle of the goat’s bells… and you can smell the coffee wafting over from the coffee shop!!!

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And finally, behind the story is a secondary story about trees… and while this is an exceptional tree… let’s face it trees are the best for playing, hiding, exploring, reading, clambering. We kind of love trees over here. This book is one of those that will make you want to get outdoors and take a closer look at the trees around you. And often when you go hunting, for little hiding spots amidst the branches or little magical surprises amongst the roots you actually do find them.

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The GiveAway

RandomStruik together with the author, Alison Fast have given us a copy of the book to GiveAway to our readers… All you have to do is leave a comment before the end of play on the 31 January 2015. Go ahead and leave a comment. We will draw and publish the winners in the Fabulous Fun Post after that. I won’t respond to your comments as I do on our other posts because I don’t want to be included in our own giveaway.

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Our GiveAways are open to everyone: If you have won a GiveAway before never fear – enter away. If you live on the far side of the world – enter away. Postage takes forever from here but eventually it should get to you! Good luck and happy commenting!!!

We would like to thank Random Struik and Alison Fast for the GiveAway. We were given two copies of the book, one to GiveAway and one to review. We were not paid to write this review and all opinions expressed are as usual our own.

27 Replies to “A Weekend of GiveAways: Marigold and the Faraway Tree….”

  1. It looks like a wonderful story to read to 3 grandchildren, none of whom live in Cape Town at the moment

  2. Please enter me, it sounds like a book my two bigger boys would enjoy. Love that it is set in CT!

  3. Although we live thousands of kilometers away, we might have a chance to visit Imhoff this year. We would love this book!

  4. YAY! A Book giveaway!?! My favvvorite! We have a very small selection thats age appropriate, & cannot (long story) get to our local far away library! Regardless of winning or not, we spend alot of time researching & occassionally purchasing thru amazon.ca a kids books or two, for reading on ipad. Personally, a child should enjoy their books, handheld in paper! THANKS for the opportunity!

  5. We are coming (home) to South Africa next year and would love to visit Imhoff when we do, especially after reading the book!

  6. We have a tree like that in our garden. The kids spend most of the summer up it, under it, hiding behind it during water fights…
    This time of year, it is covered in ice and not safe to climb. But spring will come again!

  7. Love that this beautifully illustrated book is set just around the corner from us. Would love to read it to little Zizi. He would love the bright pictures and would appreciate the story as he grows older!

  8. Gosh I love Imhoff. It’s miles away from where we stay but whenever we’re on your end of the Peninsula we make a plan to pop in. It would be so cool to read a story based there and those illustrations look so beautiful! 🙂

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