Book Descriptions
for The Secret Kingdom by Barb Rosenstock and Claire A. Nivola
From Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC)
Raised in a village in the Punjab region of Asia, Nek Chand Saini is surrounded by stories told by his family members and traveling minstrels. Bursting with imagination and creativity, Nek constructs fantastical miniature worlds outdoors. A young adult when the Partition of India takes place in 1947, Nek flees his village with his family, resettling in the concrete city of Chandigarh, India. Longing for the life he left behind, Nek carves out a space in a swath of jungle on the edge of the city where he can create his own “village.” He spends years collecting discarded objects, remnants of the villages that once existed where Chandigarh now stands, and begins to build his “kingdom.” Nek creates an elaborate landscape of paved paths and mosaic walls with his found objects, populating it with dozens of sculptures of humans and animals. When his kingdom is discovered by the government after 15 years, they want to tear it down. The people of Chandigarh come to his rescue, persuading city officials to allow him to continue creating. A double gatefold of photographs of Nek’s expansive kingdom is the perfect culmination of this awe-inspiring artist’s story. (Ages 6–10)
CCBC Choices 2019. © Cooperative Children's Book Center, Univ. of Wisconsin - Madison, 2019. Used with permission.
From the Publisher
A 2019 Orbis Pictus Honor Book
The incredible story of the world’s largest visionary environment: the Rock Garden of Chandigarh, kept secret by outsider artist Nek Chand for fifteen years.
After the partition of India in 1947, Nek Chand Saini settled in the city of Chandigarh, with nothing but stories brought from his homeland. Dismayed at his stark new surroundings, Nek began collecting river rocks, broken glass, and cracked water pots found on the roadside. He cleared a section of jungle and for seven years he stockpiled odds and ends. They were castoffs and rubbish to everyone else, but to Nek, they were treasures. He began to build a labyrinth of curving paths, mosaics, and repeating patterns: his very own tribute to the winding village of his youth, a hidden land of stories. Nek kept his kingdom secret for fifteen years, until a government crew stumbled upon it and sought to destroy it. But local fans agreed in awe: the Rock Garden had to be protected. Author Barb Rosenstock introduces readers to the outsider artist’s stunning creation, while Claire A. Nivola’s illustrations bring to life the land’s natural beauty and the surreal world Nek coaxed from his wild landscape.
The incredible story of the world’s largest visionary environment: the Rock Garden of Chandigarh, kept secret by outsider artist Nek Chand for fifteen years.
After the partition of India in 1947, Nek Chand Saini settled in the city of Chandigarh, with nothing but stories brought from his homeland. Dismayed at his stark new surroundings, Nek began collecting river rocks, broken glass, and cracked water pots found on the roadside. He cleared a section of jungle and for seven years he stockpiled odds and ends. They were castoffs and rubbish to everyone else, but to Nek, they were treasures. He began to build a labyrinth of curving paths, mosaics, and repeating patterns: his very own tribute to the winding village of his youth, a hidden land of stories. Nek kept his kingdom secret for fifteen years, until a government crew stumbled upon it and sought to destroy it. But local fans agreed in awe: the Rock Garden had to be protected. Author Barb Rosenstock introduces readers to the outsider artist’s stunning creation, while Claire A. Nivola’s illustrations bring to life the land’s natural beauty and the surreal world Nek coaxed from his wild landscape.
Publisher description retrieved from Google Books.
