The grass is not always greener in this simple, gentle, beautifully illustrated tale.
A gardener transplants a daisy into his neighbor’s lawn with surprising results.
Originally published in German in Switzerland in 1985, this unassuming story of George, an aging gardener able to converse with flowers, birds, and animals in his small garden, offers a surprising lesson in contentment. George prefers his “lovely meadow, dotted with red and white clover, dandelions, and daisies” and his untamed wild roses and bluebells, to his neighbor’s formal lawn and garden with its “splendid roses, stately delphiniums, noble lilies, and elegant carnations.” Describing the neighbor’s flowers to his own modest blooms, George feels badly when a small daisy complains that it, too, wants to grow “next to roses and lilies” instead of “weeds.” George secretly transplants his discontented daisy into the middle of the neighbor’s pristine lawn, but the angry neighbor removes the daisy, tossing it onto the compost, leaving George to orchestrate a rescue. Delicately drawn, softly edged, pastel illustrations sharply contrast genial George, embracing everything in his small, bucolic, borderless garden with its wildflowers, untrimmed trees, twittering birds, and scurrying hedgehogs, with his scowling neighbor, who violently ejects a small offending daisy from his large, formal, rigidly bordered beds of perfectly positioned flowers, pruned trees, artificial birds, and garden gnomes. Children will easily see that difference. Both gardeners present white.
The grass is not always greener in this simple, gentle, beautifully illustrated tale. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: April 2, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-7358-4347-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: NorthSouth
Review Posted Online: Jan. 14, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A solid, small step for diversifying STEM stories.
What does Annie want to be?
As career day approaches, Annie wants to keep her job choice secret until her family sees her presentation at school. Readers will figure it out, however, through the title and clues Tadgell incorporates into the illustrations. Family members make guesses about her ambitions that are tied to their own passions, although her brother watches as she completes her costume in a bedroom with a Mae Jemison poster, starry décor, and a telescope. There’s a celebratory mood at the culminating presentation, where Annie says she wants to “soar high through the air” like her basketball-playing mother, “explore faraway places” like her hiker dad, and “be brave and bold” like her baker grandmother (this feels forced, but oven mitts are part of her astronaut costume) so “the whole world will hear my exciting stories” like her reporter grandfather. Annie jumps off a chair to “BLAST OFF” in a small illustration superimposed on a larger picture depicting her floating in space with a reddish ground below. It’s unclear if Annie imagines this scene or if it’s her future-self exploring Mars, but either scenario fits the aspirational story. Backmatter provides further reading suggestions and information about the moon and four women astronauts, one of whom is Jemison. Annie and her family are all black.
A solid, small step for diversifying STEM stories. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 6, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-88448-523-0
Page Count: 36
Publisher: Tilbury House
Review Posted Online: Feb. 3, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2018
An invitation to wonder, imagine and look at everything (humans included) in a new way.
A young boy sees things a little differently than others.
Noah can see patterns in the dust when it sparkles in the sunlight. And if he puts his nose to the ground, he can smell the “green tang of the ants in the grass.” His most favorite thing of all, however, is to read. Noah has endless curiosity about how and why things work. Books open the door to those answers. But there is one question the books do not explain. When the wind comes whistling by, where does it go? Noah decides to find out. In a chase that has a slight element of danger—wind, after all, is unpredictable—Noah runs down streets, across bridges, near a highway, until the wind lifts him off his feet. Cowman’s gusty wisps show each stream of air turning a different jewel tone, swirling all around. The ribbons gently bring Noah home, setting him down under the same thinking tree where he began. Did it really happen? Worthington’s sensitive exploration leaves readers with their own set of questions and perhaps gratitude for all types of perspective. An author’s note mentions children on the autism spectrum but widens to include all who feel a little different.
An invitation to wonder, imagine and look at everything (humans included) in a new way. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: April 14, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-60554-356-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Redleaf Lane
Review Posted Online: Feb. 2, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2015
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