The Other Side of the Garden

by Sili Recio, Elena Djome Lawrence, Brianna McCarthy (Illustrator)

Overview

A young girl learns to cope with her grandmother’s death when she discovers memories can help keep loved ones alive in this powerful picture book from Afro-Dominican storyteller Sili Recio and her daughter Elena.

A young girl and her mother visit her grandmother’s old garden, but things are different. A fence stands between them and Abuela’s old blue house, and when the young girl calls out to her, Abuela no longer answers.

With each visit to the garden, it becomes clear that Abuela won’t be coming back. All that’s left are memories of picking flowers, dancing in the wind, and running into Abuela’s warm embrace. Author Sili Recio and her daughter, Elena, draw on Elena’s own grief journey after her abuela’s passing to help young readers not only navigate loss, but also recognize that remembering loved ones who’ve gone means they never really leave us.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781665947077
Publisher:	Denene Millner Books/Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Publication date:	03/03/2026
Sold by:	SIMON & SCHUSTER
Format:	eBook
Pages:	32
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Sili Recio has been calling herself a writer since she won a trophy in a poetry contest in the sixth grade. She is an Afro-Dominican storyteller, disruptor, and Mami. Sili earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Rollins College. She entered the world of social media via her blog in 2010 and has never looked back. Sili lives in Florida with her daughter, the Frog Princess, and tries not to pass on her love of café con leche to her child. She is failing. You can visit her at SiliRecio.com.

Elena Djome Lawrence is an artist and violinist who excels in both her schoolwork and creative projects. Her literary debut picture book The Other Side of the Garden was inspired by a story she shared with her mother when she was nine years old. Her imaginative telling of her own grief serves as the foundation of the book, offering inspiration to those navigating their own journeys of loss.

Brianna McCarthy is a mixed media visual communicator working and living in Trinidad and Tobago. She is a self-taught artist and aims to create a new discourse examining issues of beauty, stereotypes, and representation as well as documenting the process—particularly poignant in an ever smaller, digitally-connected world. Her form takes shape through masking and performance art, fabric collage, traditional media, and installation pieces.