With its adroit look at a child’s colorful imagination, My Garden is as fresh and inviting as spring after winter.

"With its adroit look at a child’s colorful imagination, My Garden is as fresh and inviting as spring after winter."

What would your very own garden look like and what would you grow? The girl in the story describes how she helps her mother care for their garden by watering the plants, removing the weeds, and chasing the rabbits who like to nibble at the lettuce. If she could have her way, however, her garden would be free of weeds and flowers would never die, but that is not all. In her imaginary garden, flowers would change colors and patterns by thinking, rabbits would be made of chocolate for eating, and jelly beans would grow on bushes for harvesting. Find out what else is growing in this dream garden. Enjoy the beautiful watercolor and ink illustrations on every layout. There is a dreamy, fantasy effect with its pastel colors and blue lines of the pictures which fill the pages and support the text. The book jacket features the girl, and a sunflower is featured on the cover of the book. The endpages are decorated with sunflowers as well. This book is a pleasing story that plays with the imagination of the audience. Reviewer: Carrie Hane Hung

PreS-Gr 2—Imagination grows and spreads from the fertile pages of this book to the minds of young readers. Henkes's familiar illustration style invites children into a most unusual garden. It never needs weeding, the flowers are ever-blooming, and colors change just by thinking of them (even into patterns). "In my garden, rabbits wouldn't eat the lettuce because the rabbits would be chocolate and I would eat them." Jelly beans would grow on bushes. Tomatoes would be the size of beach balls, but "carrots would be invisible because I don't like carrots!" Intense pastel colors and soft navy outlines bring the perfect garden to life. Colors splash across the pages, matching the enthusiasm of the text. The vibrancy and size of the artwork make this an excellent choice for groups, large or small. A must for every library.—Carolyn Janssen, Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County, OH