When Grandma Gives You a Lemon Tree

June 7, 2019

PreS-Gr 1-It is a girl's birthday and her grandma gives her a unique present she is not expecting, a lemon tree! Though disappointed, it is from Grandma, and courteous behavior dictates that she show gratitude and think of a good way to use this gift. The situation is special as a tree needs care and protection, but at the end of the endeavor, this lemon tree will pay forward. The white, black, and yellow font accompanies the second person narrative as it develops the story of the girl and her relationship with the tree. The narrative is fresh and moves effortlessly. However, the plot becomes predictable with an outcome that lacks an element of surprise. The perceptive illustrations will attract readers with expressive and always smiling non-speaking characters that stand out in the story as they witness the plot unfolding. Moreover, the artist uses yellow as a unifying element that interacts with a soft palette of colors that brightens the reading experience. VERDICT With a pinch of humor and lighthearted prose, Deeniham delivers her first picture book. It can be used to motivate readers to appreciate the gifts of Mother Nature and is ideal for the public library and elementary classrooms.-Kathia Ibacache, Simi Valley Public Library, CA

Copyright 2019 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from January 15, 2019
Gardening tips abound in this delightful guide to caring for a lemon tree.The unnamed protagonist has a carefully drawn-out list of acceptable electronics she wants for her birthday. But Grandma instead brings...gasp...a lemon tree. The second-person text covers appropriate and inappropriate reactions and then advises readers to accept the potted present politely and wait for Grandma to leave or take a nap. Then you definitely shouldn't: drop it from a bridge, send it aloft with balloons, or "play ding dong ditch" with it (all illustrated with wry understatement). Instead, the narrator offers some incredibly important do's: put the fruit tree "in a sunny spot" (the grassy verge between sidewalk and street), don't overwater it, and "battle against intruders" who seem to come from all directions. After nearly a year of caring for her reluctantly received sapling, the protagonist joyously picks her lush lemons, and Grandma even returns to help make some fresh lemonade, the sale of which leads to more plants for her burgeoning garden. Rocha's colors and characters leap right off the page, encouraging readers to get out into the world and create life, beauty, and some great-tasting lemonade (recipe included). The community is diverse and urban, with no lack of personality and detail. The protagonist and Grandma are both black, she with black pigtail puffs and Grandma with a white poof of hair.Charms from cover to cover. (Fiction. 3-7)

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February 15, 2019
Grades K-3 In this debut picture book, Deenihan offers a charmingly literal rendition of the proverbial phrase when life gives you lemons, make lemonade, with a colorful and cute story of a child who gets an unwanted birthday gift from grandma: a lemon tree. Once her mischievous plots to rid herself of the tree fail, a fruitful alternative arises: nurture the tree to make lemonade to sell in order to get what she really wants. In addition to the comical efforts of the girl, this playful picture book showcases the concept of delayed gratification. The girl truly has to wait for good things to come to fruition, and once they do, she makes some surprising choices (perhaps just what Grandma wanted). These concepts are enhanced by the eye-catching colors, bold cartoon figures with deeply expressive faces, and diverse cast of characters in Rocha's illustrations, which are filled with plenty of fun background details to pore over. A nice complement to Matt de la Pe�a's Last Stop on Market Street (2015) or Katherine Pryor's Zora's Zucchini (2015).(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)