Our Garden (Ο Κήπος μας) book in Greek

Our Garden: An Illustrated Journey through the National Garden

The book “Our Garden” (Ο Κήπος μας) by Athina Deligianni is a contemporary illustrated approach to the National Garden (Ethnikos Kipos), one of the most distinctive public spaces in Athens.

The book treats the Garden as the central protagonist, a place where nature, the child’s gaze, and the memory of the city meet.

The narrative is organized as a tour, where each illustration acts as a station in a conceptual mapping of the space. The reader is invited to recognize real-life spots, pathways, and small scenes. They see on paper what they will encounter on their actual walk.

The book proposes an interactive reading relationship that does not conclude with the closing of the last page, but continues on the actual walk through the Garden.

The child can match the drawn image with the existing reality and form their own personal map, observing the sense of place to understand the urban environment.

Through imagination, the city becomes less abstract and more habitable.

As an edition, the book also functions as a fine art book. The delicate line of the drawing, the aesthetic of the handmade, and the careful printing place it within the realm of artistic publishing, making it a book that appeals not only to children but also to adults.

In a period when our relationship with the city seeks new ways of assigning meaning, “Our Garden” offers a calm, sensitive look at the public space, reminding us that reality can become a field of imagination, as long as one stops and looks at it.