In a Garden

December 1, 2019
Life buzzes in a community garden. Surrounded by apartment buildings, this city garden gets plenty of human attention, but the book's stars are the plants and insects. The opening spread shows a black child in a striped shirt sitting in a top-story window; the nearby trees and garden below reveal the beginnings of greenery that signal springtime. From that high-up view, the garden looks quiet--but it's not. "Sleepy slugs / and garden snails / leave behind their silver trails. / Frantic teams of busy ants / scramble up the stems of plants"; and "In the earth / a single seed / sits beside a millipede. / Worms and termites / dig and toil / moving through the garden soil." Sicuro zooms in too, showing a robin taller than a half-page; later, close-ups foreground flowers, leaves, and bugs while people (children and adults, a multiracial group) are crucial but secondary, sometimes visible only as feet. Watercolor illustrations with ink and charcoal highlights create a soft, warm, horticulturally damp environment. Scale and perspective are more stylized than literal. McCanna's superb scansion never misses, incorporating lists of insects and plants ("Lacewings, gnats, / mosquitos, spiders, / dragonflies, and water striders / live among the cattail reeds, / lily pads, and waterweeds") with description ("Sunlight warms the morning air. / Dewdrops shimmer / here and there"). Readers see more than gardeners do, such as rabbits stealing carrots and lettuce from garden boxes. Like its subject: full of bustling life yet peaceful. (author's note) (Picture book. 3-6)

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February 3, 2020
“In a garden/ full of green/ many moments/ go unseen.” McCanna’s adroit rhyming celebration of a year in a garden conjures invisible dramas, from a single seed nestled beside a millipede sprouting into “newborn flowers” to the many creatures who live in the plants: “Earwigs scuttle./ Beetles scurry./ Roly-polies/ scoot and worry.” (Insect-loving readers will appreciate McCanna’s focus on arthropods alongside the flowers.) Sicuro’s painterly illustrations chronicle the seasons’ shift from the barely green branches of spring to the swirls of winter snow, and offer another subtle indication of the passage of time—a figure is shown pregnant, then with a baby. The vibrant panorama of reaching branches, unfurling leaves, bright blooms, helpful creatures, and growing children populate every page, conjured to life by Sicuro’s expressive brushstrokes. Supplemental material explains how gardens grow. Ages 4–8.

February 14, 2020

PreS-Gr 2-In a growing garden, millipedes move underground, magnified as they coil by a waiting seed. A root forms at eye level, and sprouts burst free. Each scene in this book allows the reader to find plants, animals, and insects living together harmoniously through passing seasons. As spring flowers bloom, a line of ants passes by. Baby birds open beaks for their meal while butterflies and bees busily flit past new blooms. A brush of color magnifies the movement as watercolor, ink, and charcoal create art from various perspectives, while brief text couplets encourage closer examination and support the addition of flower and insect vocabulary. VERDICT With an author's note that speaks to the history of gardening, this title is a colorful addition to accompany a study of seasons or plant growth.-Mary Elam, Learning Media Services, Plano ISD, TX

Copyright 2020 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 15, 2019
Preschool-G In a garden / on a hill / sparrows chirp / and crickets trill begins this tribute to the plants, birds, bugs, and other critters that make gardens such lively places. A string of rhymed couplets guides readers along, commenting first on budding trees, tunneling worms, and sprouting seeds. Rain falls and flowers bloom, drawing bees and butterflies, while a robin feeds its nestlings. At twilight, the children chase lightning bugs, and at night, families leave this neighborhood garden to its resident owl and the many insects using camouflage to hide from predators. Concentrating on spring and summer, the book introduces changes and activities in the garden throughout the year. Literal-minded children may wish for more precise continuity of details between text and pictures, but the artwork captures the vitality, color, and variety of the place very well. Created with watercolor, ink, charcoal, and digital elements, the illustrations feature splashes of colors, shifting to lighter, more muted tones only in winter. A pleasant picture-book excursion for kids intrigued by gardens.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)