| Oliver in the Garden | |
| Author: | Margaret Beames |
| Illustrator: | Sue Hitchcock |
| Country: | New Zealand |
| Language: | English |
| Subject: | Children's literature, Picture book |
| Published: | 2000 (Scholastic) |
| Media Type: | Print (hardback, paperback) |
| Pages: | 32 |
| Isbn: | 9781869434526 |
| Oclc: | 49221508 |
Oliver in the Garden (published in the USA as Night Cat) is a 2000 picture book by Margaret Beames. It is about a cat called Oliver that chooses to stay outside all night but after a number of adventures decides it is better indoors.
The Horn Book Magazine, in a review of Oliver in the Garden, wrote "Hitchcock's digitally rendered illustrations feature wonderfully dramatic and sometimes chilling nightscapes in a palette of deep purple and black occasionally cut by swaths of light and color. The story is more atmospheric than well-plotted, the cozy conclusion more inevitable than satisfying."[3] A reviewer for the School Library Journal compared it to books like Marcia Brown's Shadow and concluded "this import from New Zealand promises to bewitch American picture-book readers."[4]
Oliver in the Garden has also been reviewed by Kirkus Reviews,[5] and Publishers Weekly.[6]
It is one of the New Zealand Book Council 50 New Zealand books every kid should read by age 12,[7] and won Best Picture Book and the Children's Choice Award at the 2001 New Zealand Post Book Awards for Children and Young Adults.[8]
Beames has written further books involving Oliver including Oliver's Party (2003),[9] and Oliver Goes Exploring (2008).[10]