Review by Booklist Review
Ages 3-6. From grocery cart to checkout stand, from bus to third-floor walk-up, an excited little girl totes home a heavy armload of flowering plants. Sitting on the newspaper-strewn floor, she and her father transplant them, creating a "Garden in a window box / High above the street / Where butterflies can stop and rest / And ladybugs can meet." The garden is much admired by passing pedestrians, but the true object of this labor of love will discover the surprise upon her return home. "Candles on a birthday cake / chocolate ice cream, too. / Happy, happy birthday, Mom! A garden box--for you." The simple rhymed verse, which skips along in pace with the child's anticipation, is smoothly integrated with the vibrant, lifelike paintings. The garden's progress from pots to planter is seen from several startling perspectives--from the little girl's lap, from the base of a staircase, from directly overhead, from street level. Prereaders can trace the floral motif, repeated in the child's tights, the bus passenger's dress, the birthday cake, and the plate, or they can discover such hidden treats as the girl's reflection in the bus mirror. Almost as a bonus, one splendid close-up of the blooms is accompanied by verse identifying five common flowers. This title succeeds both as an introduction to the pleasures of gardening, and as a picture of a family, African American in this case, in which gifts are fashioned by loving hands. ~--Elizabeth BushNON-BOXED REVIEWS
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
A plot about creating a windowbox garden scarcely portends the appeal of this lyrical, ebullient book. On a spring day in an urban neighborhood, a girl and her father visit the supermarket: ``Garden in a shopping cart / Doesn't it look great? / Garden on the checkout stand / I can hardly wait.'' The youngster's anticipation grows as the duo travels home--walking down the street, riding the bus, climbing the apartment house stairs--all the while guarding their flowers. Without contrivance or strain, Bunting's verse evokes the universal yet unexpected felicity of blooming color, and the author throws in a happy surprise at the end: the ``garden box'' is a birthday present for the girl's mother. Hewitt's intimate, oil paintings gain power through imaginative use of perspective and clean simplicity. The illustrations include just enough detail to prime side observations from pre-readers and still keep the focus on the verse. Fresh as a daisy. Ages 4-8. (Apr.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
K-Gr 1-A comforting, richly illustrated story about a birthday surprise. An urban African-American girl and her father buy plants, potting soil, and a window box at the supermarket, ride the bus to their apartment, and put together a colorful gift for the child's mother. Rhyming verse carries the brief story, while wonderful, warm, full-color illustrations present scenes from novel angles, and depict a loving family with a sense of intimacy, sincerity, and joy. A reassuring choice for reading aloud.-Barbara Peklo Abrahams, Oneida City Schools, Manlius, NY (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
Hewitt's realistic oil paintings and Bunting's rhyming text pull the reader into a story of surprise and fun. The young narrator has, with the help of her father, assembled a 'garden in a shopping cart' to take home and plant in a window box high above the city as a birthday gift for her mother. The African-American child and her plants make a colorful picture in this story of the gift of love and beauty. From HORN BOOK 1994, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
A young girl carries a carton of potted flowers from the supermarket home and up the stairs; she and her father replant them in a window box and light candles on a birthday cake to surprise Mom when she comes wearily home from work. In Hewitt's expansive oil paintings, the girl's honey-brown face shines as brightly as the daisies and daffodils; Bunting's brief rhymed text (``Garden in a cardboard box/Walking to the bus/Garden sitting on our laps/People smile at us!'') celebrates the child's contagious happiness, the warm response of everyone who sees her, and the pleasure of having ``a color jamboree'' of flowers in the window of an inner-city apartment, high above the street. A simple, pleasing episode with a contemporary subtext. (Picture book. 4-7)
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
