IN THE GARDEN WITH YOU

A mother and daughter share special time together in their garden in King’s picture book about love and growing up.

The story begins when the daughter is still a baby and her mother takes her out to the garden to ease her fears and dry her tears. From then on, the garden becomes a symbol of their close relationship (as a toddler, the daughter learns to walk in the garden). The child’s first experience with death, when a baby bird falls from its nest, occurs within the garden as well. Adopting a pet, learning to ride a bike, confessing to a first kiss, arguing over taking the car without permission, and many other milestones are marked before the daughter heads to college. “You grew up too fast!” the mother says. The daughter replies, “Don’t worry, Mama! You taught me well.” Though the girl gets married in the garden, she does move away, staying close only by phone—until she brings her own daughter to the sacred spot. The mixed first- and second-person narration gives the story a sense of immediacy, situating readers right into the storyline of life and time passing. Smith’s illustrations perfectly capture the tone of the tale, but are uneven in style; the eyes, in particular, are drawn in different ways, which can make the character design feel jarringly inconsistent.

A heartfelt tale of growing together, season after season.