THE SECRET KINGDOM: Nek Chand, a Changing India, and a Hidden World of Art written by Barb Rosenstock and beautifully illustrated by Claire A. Nivola is the incredible story of a folk artist who built a secret garden of art out of found objects in order to bring the lost culture of his childhood to the city of Chandigarh after the partition of India.
He used colorful stones, river rocks, broken water pots, old glass bangles, chips from old sinks and anything he could find abandoned on the roadside to build paths, mosaic walls, arches, waterfalls, massive staircases and cultural figures. He even took half-dead flowers and trees to his hidden city where he watered them back to life.
Most importantly, the huge rock garden, hidden from the authorities for 15 years, was full of stories and images from his childhood. There’s a visually stunning gatefold of the garden at the end of the book full of monkeys, horses, jackals, warriors and bejeweled women with pots on their heads. The people of Chandigarh loved this celebration of their former culture once they saw it and they even saved this “unauthorized” garden from being destroyed by the police.
An Author’s Note and a Bibliography confirm that thousands of people visit this rock garden each year.
THE SECRET KINGDOM: Nek Chand, a Changing India, and a Hidden World of Art written by Barb Rosenstock and illustrated by Claire A. Nivola is a fascinating book based on a true story for readers 7-10 years of age and up (Candlewick Press, 2018).
Activity Questions for THE SECRET KINGDOM: Nek Chand, a Changing India, and a Hidden World of Art
Have you ever built a fort, erected a building, put together a zoo, designed a garden, laid out a sandcastle scene or made a door wreath using found objects? Look outside. Do you see any loose items such as rocks, sticks, leaves, old bike parts, flowerpots, ribbons and the like with which you could create something useful or beautiful as did Nek Chand? Take a good look and let your imagine soar. Start building!
Nek Chand was motivated to build a hidden art city so that he could relive the wonderful images and stories from his childhood. Is there an image or a story or a celebration from your childhood that you hope to always remember? Think on this. Then get busy and draw a picture of your childhood image, celebration or story. Now write a paragraph about it telling why it is memorable to you and place this paragraph on the back of your picture with your signature and the date.
There are a number of places online where you can actually see Nek Chand’s Rock Garden as it is today. Invite a friend or parent to virtually walk through the garden with you.
