Review by Booklist Review
This philosophical parable about creating beauty is a tribute to Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy and the Greenway in Boston that bears her name. After traveling the world in a giant teapot, collecting seeds as souvenirs, Rose the rose sails into a city and finds a dusty, forgotten stretch of earth in need of some color. Claiming this spot to plant her garden, Rose is eventually joined by multicultural children bearing paper flowers, each of whom came to the city like seeds carried on a breeze, and soon real flowers begin to grow because Rose believed. The watercolor-and-ink drawings are quintessential Reynolds, and what begins in a drab gray becomes increasingly colorful as more flowers grow. This book has the unshakable feel of a message in search of a story; the title character in Barbara Cooney's Miss Rumphius (1982) spreads her lupines with more depth and satisfaction. Still, this is a sweet piece that offers many opportunities for sharing, enjoyment, and discussion.--Medlar, Andrew Copyright 2009 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Inspired by and dedicated to the late Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy, for whom Boston's new Greenway park is named, Reynolds's (The Dot) gentle story introduces an intrepid girl who sails the seas on an oversize teapot that she fills with seeds from the various locales she visits. Announcing "It is time to plant my garden," Rose cruises into a port city, where she finds a "dusty, forgotten stretch of earth," which she decides "needs some color." After planting her seeds, she patiently waits-through four seasons-for flowers to bloom. As word of the girl's faith in her garden spreads, children from all over the globe appear "like seeds carried on a breeze," and each presents Rose with a bright paper flower, bringing the first splashes of color to Reynolds's wispy, monochromatic art. Soon, Rose is rewarded as real flowers sprout among the paper ones, and her garden becomes "Everybody's garden." The globe-trotting Rose clearly has an adventurous spirit and a strong sense of determination, and Reynolds's fable emphasizes that having faith (and patience) can pay off big. All ages. (Oct.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
K-Gr 3-This inspiring fable will capture the hearts and imaginations of readers and show them that anything is possible. Young Rose sails around the world in her incredible teapot and collects seeds from her many journeys. She reaches Boston Harbor and discovers a forgotten part of the city that needs attention, care, and beauty. Despite obstacles, including uncooperative weather, her unyielding faith, determination, and perseverance continue to fuel her vision that neighborhoods will connect and become thriving communities. Spring arrives, but nothing has peeked through the earth-yet. Children come with beautiful paper flowers to fill Rose's garden with color. Finally, she notices a real flower blooming, followed by many more, and she knows that she has succeeded in her quest. Reynolds's outstanding illustrations done in watercolor and ink begin in shades of gray and then explode with color and joy as the garden evolves and people come to enjoy it. This book is a tribute to Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy and her family's endeavors in the creation of the Greenway Conservancy and Park in Boston.-Anne Beier, Hendrick Hudson Free Library, Montrose, 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 Kirkus Book Review
Sepia washes give way as pages turn to spots of color and at last a floral carpet of saturated hues in a small, brief tale of a young wanderer named Rose who plants seeds in an empty urban space. Dedicated to Rose Kennedy (and blurbed on the cover by her late son Edward), this tribute to her and to Boston's recently dedicated Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway contains heavy doses of tweeRose is first met traveling the world in a big china teapot, for instance, and when her flowers don't grow right away immigrant children come trooping in bearing paper flowers and personal storiesbut it may inspire young audiences to plant gardens of their own. As neither Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy nor Boston is explicitly identified in the text, however, adults will have to provide significant background to child readers for them to make the connection. This particular fable may well be too self-consciously fabulous for its own good. (Picture book. 5-7) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
