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Athena, a great horned owl

The Night Garden

Where words grow in the dark

Learn English from beginning to mastery beside Athena, an owl who cannot yet see in the dark. Through 89 destinations — from the old woods of Britain, across North America, to every corner of the English-speaking world — she learns to read the shadows. So will you.

The Roots

British Isles

Where English was born — old woodland, moor, coast and highland.

A1 13 destinations

01 Open your eyes Edward Lear 02 Name the wood Luis Fernando Macías 03 This and that Robert Louis Stevenson 04 What is there? Edward Lear 05 My and your Rudyard Kipling 06 The robin sings Traditional 07 The owl flies Rudyard Kipling 08 I do not see Robert Louis Stevenson 09 Can you hear? Edward Lear 10 What do you see? Traditional 11 The wood at night Robert Louis Stevenson 12 The owl is wise Rudyard Kipling 13 Now you can see Luis Fernando Macías

A2 8 destinations

14 Brock, the badger at the gate Beatrix Potter 15 Meets the notebook keeper Luis Fernando Macías 16 Counts the hedgerow Beatrix Potter 17 In the orchard of can and cannot Lewis Carroll 18 Reads the river Luis Fernando Macías 19 On the cliff of long ago Traditional 20 At the harbour of what happened Edward Lear 21 The edge of the known world Lewis Carroll

The Crossing

North America

Where English expanded — cities, prairies, mountains, deserts, the great river.

B1 21 destinations

22 Cross the water Walt Whitman 23 And the trickster Traditional (Native American trickster tale) 24 Names the new world Athena (original prairie naming-song) 25 Keeps the notebook Walt Whitman 26 Hears the river-voice Mark Twain 27 And the raft Mark Twain 28 Listens to the elder Traditional (African American spiritual) 29 And the man who erases names Luis Fernando Macías 30 Climbs to the singing prairie Traditional (American folk song) 31 Reads the open road Walt Whitman 32 At the lake of reflections Henry David Thoreau 33 And the simpler life Henry David Thoreau 34 Enters the mountains Walt Whitman 35 And the snow that hides the path Traditional (Native American oral tradition) 36 Crosses the burning desert Luis Fernando Macías 37 And the mirage of one tongue Mark Twain 38 Descends into the canyon Walt Whitman 39 Hears the elder's full story Traditional (American spiritual) 40 And the questions Blackwood asks Jane Austen 41 Reaches the redwoods Walt Whitman 42 Badger says goodbye at the western shore Luis Fernando Macías

B2 13 destinations

43 The edge of the map Walt Whitman 44 And the city that never sleeps Walt Whitman 45 Meets the Professor Luis Fernando Macías 46 Among the redwoods Walt Whitman 47 And the third conditional Emily Dickinson 48 In the house of shadows Edgar Allan Poe 49 And the weight of every word Edgar Allan Poe 50 And the canyon of echoes Frederick Douglass 51 Learns the art of freedom Frederick Douglass 52 And the invention of words Luis Fernando Macías 53 And the master of English William Shakespeare 54 Faces the standard William Shakespeare 55 And the trickster's farewell Walt Whitman

The Canopy

Global English

Where English lives now — every accent, every culture, every truth.

C1 13 destinations

56 The Canopy Opens Luis Fernando Macías 57 Follow the songline Banjo Paterson 58 The reef remembers Henry Lawson 59 The bay into which the cloud descended Katherine Mansfield 60 The Monsoon's Many Tongues Rabindranath Tagore 61 Bazaar of a Thousand Words Sarojini Naidu 62 The Story of an African Farm Olive Schreiner 63 Stars of the Southern Sky Thomas Pringle 64 If We Must Sing Claude McKay 65 Carnival of the Archipelago Claude McKay 66 The Lion City, Many Voices Luis Fernando Macías 67 The Boreal Silence E. Pauline Johnson (Tekahionwake) 68 The Owl Sees in the Dark Oscar Wilde

C2 21 destinations

69 And the Lake Isle W. B. Yeats 70 Dubliners in the Dark James Joyce 71 The Playboy's Tongue J.M. Synge 72 Gregory's Gathered Voices Lady Gregory 73 The witness who names himself Olaudah Equiano 74 Songs in the Savanna Olaudah Equiano 75 Grandmother Osei's West Luis Fernando Macías 76 The Slant of Truth Emily Dickinson 77 I Sing the Body of the World Walt Whitman 78 The Reef Remembers Walt Whitman 79 Mansfield's Garden Party Katherine Mansfield 80 Tagore Among the Islands Rabindranath Tagore 81 The Caribbean Names the Sea Luis Fernando Macías 82 The Road Turns Home W.B. Yeats 83 The Whale's Last Song Walt Whitman 84 The Return Threshold Emily Dickinson 85 Grandmother Osei's Blessing Luis Fernando Macías 86 Sing the Body Electric, Coming Home Walt Whitman 87 The Slant Light of the Garden Emily Dickinson 88 To Name Is to Create Luis Fernando Macías 89 Open your eyes Edward Lear