The Secret Kingdom: Nek Chand, a Changing India, and a Hidden World of Art - Hardcover

Barb Rosenstock is a children’s book author who loves true stories. Her work includes The Camping Trip That Changed America: Theodore Roosevelt, John Muir, and Our National Parks, illustrated by Mordicai Gerstein; The Noisy Paint Box: The Colors and Sounds of Kandinsky’s Abstract Art, illustrated by Mary GrandPré; and many others. Barb Rosenstock lives in Chicago.

Claire A. Nivola is an award-winning artist who has written and illustrated many books for children. She is the author-illustrator of Orani: My Father’s Village and Planting the Trees of Kenya: The Story of Wangari Maathai. She lives in Newton, Massachusetts.

...this biography is valuable for its sheer novelty. Delicate watercolor illustrations bring it to life with texture and detail, and a large gatefold photograph of the actual Rock Garden is a special treat.
—Booklist

Rosenstock weaves the story of folk artist Nek Chand Saini and the magnificent secret garden he built in Chandigarh, India...Compelling, delicate, and spare, this book brings both artist and garden to life.
—Kirkus Reviews

Watercolor illustrations bring life to the vision of Chand and kingdom of magic and imagination. A captivating biographical narrative, this book is an ideal choice for expanding any visual arts–focused picture book collection.
—School Library Journal

A lover of true stories, author Barb Rosenstock (The Camping Trip That Changed America) clearly revels in Nek Chand's remarkable journey from village farmer to world-renowned folk artist. To comprehend the phenomenal scale of his achievement requires visuals, provided here with artistic accuracy and charming detail by Claire A. Nivola (Planting the Trees of Kenya).
—Shelf Awareness Pro

Rosenstock’s narration gracefully integrates Chand’s early village experiences with their embodiment in his multi-acre built world, and Nivola’s airy illustrations are complemented by a closing double foldout photomontage of Chand’s wonderland of found materials.
—Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

This stunning picture-book celebration of folk artist Nek Chand, creator of the Rock Garden of Chandigarh in India, offers a moving depiction of the power of art...When readers are treated to a breathtaking, photographic gatefold spread of the real Rock Garden of Chandigarh, the sight makes plain why Chand’s community rallied to preserve his work in the face of government threats to destroy it.
—The Horn Book