GRACIE'S GARDEN

by Jamie Mock ‧ RELEASE DATE: N/A

The tiny residents of a garden band together to save a very important snail in Mock’s first chapter book in a series.

Sammy, an “odd-shaped” decollate snail, is safe living between rotting boards in Gracie’s Garden. But he’s also lonely, and he feels his only chance for happiness lies outside the garden’s boundaries. Before his exit, he meets Maddy M. Mouse, who shows him kindness and provides both a meal and pleasant company. In the morning, Maddy’s upset when she realizes Sammy is missing, so she rallies her friends to help her in tracking him down. They also want to help the little girl, Gracie, who brought Sammy to the garden as her “new special friend.” Zacky the Cricket leads a search team: Roley Roanin, a pill bug, gathers his roly-poly pals, while Bailey, a butterfly, gets a bird’s-eye view of the garden. Meanwhile, Maddy, joined by a bee named Buster Bumbler, heads for the house on the hill. The two plan to somehow get inside so they can bring Gracie back with them. Meanwhile, Sammy runs into trouble while trekking through the garden: It’s teeming with life, from glowworms and lightning bugs to a veritable army of garden snails. Not all of them are friendly—indeed, someone takes Sammy as a prisoner. Zacky, Roley, and Bailey struggle to form an alliance with a slew of reluctant bugs; meanwhile, Maddy and Buster have no choice but to find a way past Magic, the household’s black cat, who—wouldn’t you know it?—does not like mice at all.

Mock delivers a compact story that’s loads of fun. Maddy and her crew, for example, are full of energy and lively banter; Zacky and Roley jokingly call each other “grasshopper” and “sea creature,” respectively. The characters all wind up in assorted predicaments, including Maddy and Buster, who find that simply climbing porch steps is a treacherous endeavor. Whenever the various players find themselves in peril, it’s a delight to follow them as they work out solutions, which is a great to way showcase the miniscule friends’ various traits, as when Zacky does something just to observe the others’ reactions: “Without moving, Zacky made several strange cricket noises. High-pitched musical notes rang throughout the stump. He listened closely to the sounds as they echoed back across the highly polished wood walls of the meeting hall.” Dialogue and descriptions throughout provide informative specifics about animals’ habits (Sammy, when he first arrived in Gracie’s Garden, was hibernating) and their various features (when Zacky asks for a bit of assistance, he reminds Roley that he has 14 legs). Similarly, Menendez’s boldly detailed grayscale illustrations spotlight distinctive character traits, including Maddy’s huge, bright eyes, Sammy’s cracked cone shell, and Magic’s notably sharp canine teeth. Before this first installment reaches its end, readers will know quite a few things about the cast, and the story has a satisfying resolution. Readers will certainly find return trips to this garden world to be most welcome. An entertaining, family-friendly tale of camaraderie and teamwork.

Pub Date: N/A

ISBN: 9780984422418

Page Count: 188

Publisher: N/A

Review Posted Online: Aug. 16, 2026

Review Program: Kirkus Indie

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S