PICTURE BOOK - Ojiichan's Gift by Chieri Uegaki

Illustrated by Genevieve Simms

2019, Kids Can Press (HC $16.99)

32 pgs.

Goodreads rating:  4.19 171 ratings

My rating:  5
Endpapers:solid pale sage

1^st line/s:    "When Mayumi vanHorton was born, her grandfather built her a garden.  It sat behind a tiny brown house nearly half way around the world, and it was unlike any other garden she knew."

My comments:  Every summer North American Mayumi spent two months with her Ojiichan in Japan.  He'd made a garden for her, a sand garden, with rocks, and shrubs to-be pruned, and a rake to make patterns in the sand.  And then Ojiichan gets too feeble to take care of the garden and Mayumi makes a miniature one for Ojiichan to enjoy.  Great themes, lovely story and illustrations.

Goodreads:  When Mayumi was born, her grandfather created a garden for her. It was unlike any other garden she knew. It had no flowers or vegetables. Instead, Ojiichan made it out of stones: ?big ones, little ones and ones in-between.? Every summer, Mayumi visits her grandfather in Japan, and they tend the garden together. Raking the gravel is her favorite part. Afterward, the two of them sit on a bench and enjoy the results of their efforts in happy silence. But then one summer, everything changes. Ojiichan has grown too old to care for his home and the garden. He has to move. Will Mayumi find a way to keep the memory of the garden alive for both of them? 
          This gentle picture book story will warm children's hearts as it explores a deep intergenerational bond and the passing of knowledge from grandparent to grandchild over time. The lyrical text by Chieri Uegaki and luminous watercolor illustrations by Genevieve Simms beautifully capture the emotional arc of the story, from Mayumi's contentment through her anger and disappointment to, finally, her acceptance. The story focuses on an important connection to nature, particularly as a place for quiet reflection. It contains character education lessons on caring, responsibility, perseverance and initiative. It's also a wonderful way to introduce social studies conversations about family, aging and multiculturalism. Mayumi lives in North America with her Japanese mother and Dutch father, and visits her grandfather in Japan. Some Japanese words are included.

PICTURE BOOK - Lilla's Sunflowers by Colleen Rowan Kosinski

Illustrated by  the author

2016, Sky Pony Press

32 pgs.

Goodreads rating: 4.21 - 29 ratings

My rating: 5

Endpapers: Huge sunflowers

1^st line/s: "Cicadas sang their summer song.

Part of Dedication:  "Thank you to all the men and women who serve our country to protect our freedom.  

My comments:  This is a very special picture book.  The illustrations are lovely, sunflowers and summer and simple, expressive facial expressions. Illustrations that cover the entire page with no white edges.  But the story is a real special surprise, heartfelt and so relevant for kids in our current times, when parents are deployed and gone for long periods of time. And what happens to all the new sunflower seeds at the end of the story is absolutely PERFECT and delightful.   A winner, for sure!

Goodreads:  Lilla and Papa enjoy spending magical times in Lilla’s sunflower patch. Before Papa leaves for a trip that will take him far away from home for a long time, Lilla gives him a sunflower seed. “To remember me, Papa,” Lilla whispers.
          Seasons pass, and Lilla’s mood falls like autumn leaves. Finally, news comes that her papa is coming home! The following summer, to her surprise, she receives letters from families with photos of their loved ones pictured with sunflowers. She learns that her gift to her father brightened the dark days for many people, and that her one small seed continued spreading sunshine across the country.
          Colleen Rowan Kosinki’s lyrical style and whimsical artwork bring this story of love to life. Lilla’s Sunflowers will resonate not only with military families but also with any child missing a loved one. This is a wonderful gift for holidays celebrating our country’s military heroes as well as a quiet story for bedtime read-alouds.
          For kids aged 3 to 6, this is a must-have for military families or for families where one parent does a lot of traveling and is away from the home for extended periods of time. It also serves as a charming story about sharing what you have and the benefits that can reap.

PICTURE BOOK - Up in the Garden and Down in the Dirt by Kate Messner

Illustrated by Christopher Silas Neal

2015, Chronicle Books (SF)

48 pgs.

Goodreads rating: 4.1 - 794 ratings

My rating:  5

Endpapers: Beige with brown line drawings of plants and garden tools

Illustrations:  No white border, actually no white: all beige, edge of page to edge of page...

1^st line/s:  "Up in the garden, I stand and plan ---
my hands full of seeds and my head full of dreams."

My comments:  Great information about gardens, soil, planting, and seasons, this reads as a fiction book but is full of information for little ones.  It also has beautiful language, lots of alliteration, and great rhythm.  I read it aloud to eight preschoolers, holding all their attention, and will use it with my STEM "Down and Dirty" (soils) summer camp at the library.  

Goodreads:  In this exuberant and lyrical follow-up to the award-winning Over and Under the Snow, discover the wonders that lie hidden between stalks, under the shade of leaves . . . and down in the dirt. Explore the hidden world and many lives of a garden through the course of a year! Up in the garden, the world is full of green—leaves and sprouts, growing vegetables, ripening fruit. But down in the dirt exists a busy world—earthworms dig, snakes hunt, skunks burrow—populated by all the animals that make a garden their home.

Grandma's Gloves - Cecil Castellucci

Illustrated by Julia Denos
Candlewick, 2010
$15.99, 24 pages
Rating: 4.5
Endpapers: a sponged-looking orangy rust

I was so drawn by the cover and title of this book. And as I began reading it I was particularly tickled - I love books with smart, savvy grandmothrs that have great relationships with their grandchildren.
Then, five pages in, "Sometimes she repeats things. But I am very patient with her." Uh Oh.

Grandma hits the downward spiral fast - hospital, does not know her daughter or granddaughter, then dies. Needless to say, I was quite perplexed. And very sad.

The second half of the book deals with keepsakes and memories, what we share and what we savor about a loved one. It was a beautifully crafted message to us all. And once I stopped thinking of myself as a (very young, vital, with-it) grandmother I moved on to memories of my own grandmother, who helped raise me. I remember her gardening gloves, too, her always-blooming African violets, her rose bushes in the yard.

So, mixed personal feelings for me about this book. I guess the decline and loss of the grandmother simply took me by surprise.

It's really a wonderful book. But sad. Kids, particularly sensitive kids, should be prepared for what's going to happen.

The illustrations seems to be pencil and watercolor, and they're pretty darn wonderful. There are a couple that I really like - the two of them sitting at the kitchen table together and later, the full-page illustration of the girl sadly watering her grandmother's plants, in particular.

(NOTE: I went to Lowe's and purchased a pink African Violet this afternoon. Let's see if I can keep it alive, at least for a little while....)

Cecil Castellucci writes about how she came to write this book, her first picture book here.
Here's an intersting blog review by Book Reviews and More and another by Jean Little Library.

Cecil Castellucci's blog.
Julia Denos' blog.

Don't you love it that you can get to know authors and illustrators "up close and personal" by reading a blog they've written?

48. The Forgotten Garden - Kate Morton

Washington Square Press
published in Australia in 2008
paper, $15.00
552 pages
for: adults
Rating: 5

I really enjoyed this cleverly woven story of three generations of women. Set in Brisbane, Australia and Cornwall, England, it flips back and forth - quite flawlessly, actually - between the period from 1900 through 1913, to 1975, and then 2005. It is a mystery, with a cottage on a Cornwall cliff that contains a walled secret garden as one of the characters. It is also intertwined with the fairy tales written by Eliza, which adds another dimension to the rich story.

In 1913 Nell is abandoned on a ship that is making its way from London to Australia. Many years later, she tries to piece together the story, figure out who she is and where she came from. After she dies, her beloved granddaughter Cassandra picks up the pieces and continues the search, trying to figure out the mystery of which her grandmother had never spoken.

We meet Eliza, orphaned daughter of beautiful Georgianna, who left Blackhurst Manor to flee an obsessed brother and follow her heart. Georgianna's husband is a sailor, and when he is killed, she chooses to live in poverty in London with her twin daughter and son rather than return to Cornwall. The son tragically dies and Eliza is swept back to Blackhurst to "entertain" her sickly cousin, Rose. Years later the cottage on the cliff, connected by an intricate maze to the manor, becomes Eliza's. It sits empty for 60 years until it becomes Nell's, then another 30 until it becomes Cassandra's. And it is Cassandra that eventually unearths all of its secrets and works diligently to make it her new home.

I couldn't put this book down. Even though I had a pretty good idea of the outcome, it was nice to see all the extra, intricate pieces of the story fall into place. I very much enjoyed Kate Morton's writing, and will look to find the book she wrote a few years previously, The House at Riverton.

My Garden - Kevin Henkes

Greenwillow, 2010
32 pgs.
$17.99
For: ages 3-6?
Endpapers: Navy with round white (actually light blue) sunflower covering the page

A girl helps her mother in the garden - and with great imagination thinks about what her own garden might be like - no weeds, flowers that change colors or instantly reappear when they've been plucked, chocolate bunnies to eat vs. real bunnies eating, jelly bean trees - and on we go.

Each two-page spread has one full white page with sage blue font, facing Easter-colored pastel illustrations with lots of sage blue. I'm not sure if sage blue is a real color, but it's the best way I can describe it.

Lots of imaginating.
Cute story, lovely illustrations. Love love love Kevin Henkes, but this one just didn't jump out at me.

I Heard It from Alice Zucchini - Juanita Havill

POETRY
Poems about the Garden
Illustrated by Christine Davinier
2006
$15.95
Rating: 4
Endpapers: Garden, shed, tree, pen and ink with watercolor washes

Twenty clever poems about growing things -- using fabulous words and all sorts of literary pluses - alliteration, personification, punctuation of every kinds......take a look and see:

Carrots

What does a carrot know,
smothered in dirt below?

Songs of worms,
tap-tapping rains,
the smell of earth,
and growing pains.

What else does a carrot know,
alone in the dark, below?

Sound of boots,
thud of hoe,
a gentle tug ---
it’s time to go.

Garden Lullaby

Sudden hush when the sun goes down.
Night in the garden and the soothing sound
of crickets chirping lullabies.

Sweet dreams, little peas, ten to a pod.
Good night, radishes, tucked under sod.
Gone are the bees and butterflies.

Heads of lettuce wilted by sun
recuperate when the day is done.
Closed are all the potatoes’ eyes.

Tomatoes snooze and eggplants doze.
All is still while the moonlight glows
save crickets chirping lullabies.

Instructions

Plant seeds early in the spring
when the ground is warm,
two inches deep in well-tilled soil
where they’ll be safe from harm.

Let the sun and rain pour down.
Be careful where you hoe.
A miracle is taking place;
Seeds split and start to grow.

The Imaginary Garden - Andrew Larsen

Illustrator: Irene Luxbacher
2009
For: Young Kids
Kids Can Press
Rating: 4.5 (maybe even 5?)
Endpapers: Pale Blue (why?)

The story is cool, the art is wonderful, a mixed-media collage. There is lots of dazzling white which brings out the greens, purples, and yellows of the extremely vibrant garden. Black and white line drawings enhanced by painting with subtle collage thrown in: cut paper, fabric...... Painting happens before your very eyes, page by page. They even show how to paint a bird with simple strokes of color! I may have to upgrade my rating to a five, the more I study the pages. Very, very cool.

When Theo's Poppa moves from his old house to an apartment, he has to leave his fabulous garden behind. But, on his 4th floor (I counted!) balcony, on a huge canvas he has placed against the wall, wearing gardening hats, they paint an imaginary garden from the ground up - adding elements as the growing season progresses. I love the cover - here's where I desire another poster for my room.

What a cool book. And very clever.

The Curious Garden - Peter Brown

For: Kids
Copyright: 2009
$16.99
Rating: 4
Endpapers: FRONT: Gray scattered with small rocks, BACK: Bright freen scattererd with grass, flowers, and tiny mushrooms growing

Liam lives in a city of concrete, with nothing growing. One day he cllimbs up to some abandoned overhead railroad tracks and discoveres some weeds and a tiny tree trying to grow. So he becomes a gardener, watering and pruning and caring for the weeds. The weeds and mosses, because of this care, begin to spread. Eventually it travels the lenght and breadth of the abandoned tracks, down the sides of the bridge, and onto roofs of nearby building. All it took was the gentle caring of one boy.

In the Author's Note in the back of the book, Brown describes an old elevated railway on the west side of Manhattan that was abandoned in the 80's , then "redecorated" by nataure. I'd sure love to discover it. I wonder if it still exists?