Rose is terrified of her neighbor, Mr. Wintergarten--who is rumored to have a pet crocodile and who has a penchant for eating small children--until she finally braves the perils of his garden to retrieve her lost ball. Kindergarten-Grade 2-- When Mr. and Mrs. Summers and their children move into their new home, they are warned by neighborhood children about the reclusive, literally gray, man who lives next door. It is rumored that Mr. Wintergarten keeps a wolflike dog and a salt-water crocodile in his house. When Rose's ball goes over the fence into his thorny, dark yard, her mother suggests that they take cookies and flowers to him when they go to retrieve it. Summoning her courage, Rosie asks the dour old man for the ball. After refusing, Mr. Wintergarten finally relents and he and his garden brighten and flower. Graham's line and wash cartoons supply humor, movement, and expression to the understated text. End papers depict before and after aerial views of both homes. Readers quickly discern the enormous changes and will understand the characters' progress in this none-too-subtle, but warm and engaging tale. --Maria B. Salvadore, District of Columbia Public Library Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. The familiar scenario of rapprochement with an elderly curmudgeon gets a new spin: The Summers fill their garden with flowers; children Rose, Faith, and Baby Blossom join their parents each day to enjoy the sunrise from the roof. Meanwhile, under the gray clouds next door, Mr. Wintergarten's creepy home lurks behind barbed wire. Despite her friends' scary stories, Rose braves the forbidding mansion to request a lost ball, taking along flowers and cookies. Softened in spite of himself, the old man begins to engage in a bit of ballplaying over the fence. The exaggerations, especially as extended in Graham's illustrations, move the story into myth: Rose/Persephone, confronting the dour Wintergarten against a bleak sweep of gray, recalls John Burningham's splendid visualizations of his mythic stories; the deft pen and watercolor sketches here are also notable for their gentle, winsome humor. Another imaginative contribution from this fine Australian artist. (Picture book. 4- 8) -- Copyright ©1992, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. Used Book in Good Condition