02/03/2020
“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. (Feb.)
Rhyming text walks viewers through a year in the life of a community garden in this celebration of the flora and fauna that inhabit it. Spring sees the arrival of birds and the digging of worms, and “Then at last/ a tiny shoot/ ever slowly/ forms a root.// First a seedling/ then a sprout/ pushing/ bursting/ up and out.” Tulips bloom in a riot of color as various insects busy themselves (“Earwigs scuttle./ Beetles scurry./ Roly-polies/ scoot and worry”) in and around the soil. Frogs and ladybugs take shelter during a rainfall, and a summer night brings out the fireflies, much to the delight of the garden’s kid visitors. Autumn comes “as a cool and gentle breeze/ whispers through the tops of trees,” and snow soon covers the ground, but the book comes full circle as “Time goes by/ and by/ and then . . . / life returns to start again.” McCanna’s text is smooth and its cadence lively, and it carries both a general awe at the wonders of nature and a specificity in its observations, listing off various types of flowers (“Daisy, foxglove,/ tulip, plum,/ daffodil,/ chrysanthemum”) and bugs (“Lacewings, gnats,/ mosquitoes, spiders,/ dragonflies, and water striders”). It’s Sicuro’s art that really makes the book blossom, though, with lush watercolor and charcoals bringing earthy textures and vibrant colors, and compositions moving deftly from close-ups on marching ants and lettuce beds to sweeping scenes of blowing leaves and hushed nightfall. An endnote provides a brief, accessible explanation of the workings of a garden, making this a seasonal sell to both budding poets and naturalists. KQG
02/14/2020
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
2019-11-10
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)
