An introduction to gardening for kids that’s both practical and entertaining.
Rhyming verse celebrates a gnome king’s fruit-and-vegetable bounty in this debut illustrated children’s book.
King Jerome Gnomer—who looks like a typical gnome statue in a photograph—gets word that it’s the right moment to plant a garden, and he wastes no time. First, he plans his beds and rows so that each kind of plant will get the right sun, shade, water, and compatible neighbors, and then he purchases seeds. Generally pagelong stanzas of rhyming couplets describe each step of the process, including planting, weeding, getting rid of pests, and inspecting the final harvest. The king gets some help from garden-tending fairies and Boots, a cat who gets rid of intruders; she’s said to relocate them, but ominously “Baby bunnies did not stand a chance.” The garden’s crops feature a huge variety of fruits and vegetables: winter and summer squashes, herbs like cilantro and mint, onions and garlic, greens, five kinds of peppers and six types of tomatoes, various beans and peas, broccoli, watermelons, berries, and more. The king appreciates the wonder of his garden, giving praise “to water, sun, soil, dreams, and belief.” Once a year, Gnomer shares his cornucopia with the hungry, throwing them a free feast and sleeping soundly after his labors. In her book, Cromer provides an informative primer on gardening tasks cloaked in appealingly lush descriptions: “Growing red under the ground, balling up big, round, and bright. / The radishes Gnomer tasted bit his tongue with a bite.” The verse often has a charming, fairy-tale ring, but some lines can become prosaic, and the meter is frequently irregular, as in “Catching and imprisoning trespassers, safely kept under his control. / Gnomer was observant and took care of destructive weeds and slugs.” Stock photos help readers picture garden animals, bugs, and plants.
An introduction to gardening for kids that’s both practical and entertaining. (Children's book, 5-8)Pub Date: Oct. 10, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-72-832954-3
Page Count: 66
Publisher: AuthorHouse
Review Posted Online: May 21, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
While this is not an essential purchase, most little pumpkins will love being told, “Baby, I'm batty for you!” (Board book....
Young children won't understand the metaphors but will appreciate the sentiment made clear by the repeated, Halloween-themed declarations of love in Wan's latest board book.
Each of the seven spreads presents an endearment illustrated by an object drawn with heavy outlines and just enough detail to invoke its essential characteristics. Lest it become too maudlin, between the “sugary, sweet candy corn” and a “purr-fect, cuddly kitty” is a “wild, messy monster.” Wan manages to make each drawing expressive and distinctive while relying on just a few shapes—crescents or circles for eyes, dots or ovals accenting cheeks. Although each spread stands alone, there are quiet connections. For example, the orange of the pumpkin is repeated in the candy corn, and the purple that adorns kitty's hat and bow becomes the prominent color on the next spread, setting off the friendly white ghost nicely. The same purple is used for the spider's body on the next to last spread. Subtle, shadowed backgrounds repeat the patterns found elsewhere in the book. For example, the background of the page with the kitty includes pumpkins, hearts, and hats and bows like the ones kitty is wearing.
While this is not an essential purchase, most little pumpkins will love being told, “Baby, I'm batty for you!” (Board book. 6 mos.-3)Pub Date: June 28, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-545-88092-3
Page Count: 14
Publisher: Cartwheel/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 13, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2016
Laugh-out-loud fun for all.
Hilarious complications ensue when Nanette’s mom gives her the responsibility of buying the family baguette.
She sets out on her errand and encounters lots of distractions along the way as she meets and greets Georgette, Suzette, Bret with his clarinet, Mr. Barnett and his pet, Antoinette. But she remembers her mission and buys the baguette from Juliette the baker. And oh, it is a wonderful large, warm, aromatic hunk of bread, so Nanette takes a taste and another and more—until there is nothing left. Maybe she needs to take a jet to Tibet. But she faces her mother and finds understanding, tenderness, and a surprise twist. Willems is at his outlandish best with line after line of “ettes” and their absurd rhymes, all the while demonstrating a deep knowledge of children’s thought processes. Nanette and the entire cast of characters are bright green frogs with very large round eyes, heavily outlined in black and clad in eccentric clothing and hats. A highly detailed village constructed of cardboard forms the background for Nanette’s adventures. Her every emotion explodes all over the pages in wildly expressive, colorful vignettes and an eye-popping use of emphatic display type. The endpapers follow the fate of the baguette from fresh and whole to chewed and gone. Demands for encores will surely follow.
Laugh-out-loud fun for all. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Oct. 25, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4847-2286-2
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Hyperion
Review Posted Online: Aug. 1, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2016
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