In the Yard

February 1, 2002
K-Gr 1-In a mere 32 words, a young girl describes how she and her parents work and play in their yard throughout the year. Textual predictability comes from the story's seasonal changes and alternately rhyming sentences. Wolf's realistic, double-page landscapes are cheerfully colored with bold oil pastels depicting this African-American family tending their large, gently rolling yard or relaxing in their cozy home. Strong pictorial clues are provided for most sentences. "Sun shines./Grass grows./I weed./Dad mows" features the narrator in the foreground weeding the flowerbed and Dad in the background pushing the lawnmower, while Mom comes out with glasses of lemonade. A solid choice for beginning readers.-Laura Scott, Baldwin Public Library, Birmingham, MI

Copyright 2001 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.