The Flower Garden

March 1, 2022

Gr 1-3-A cheery, colorful jaunt through a garden gnome's world, arranged lovingly and thoughtfully in graphic novel form. The journey starts with Anna imploring her friend Tessa to help her plant a flower garden so that they can save the bees. Their work complete, the two fall fast asleep. They soon awaken to find that they have shrunk down to the size of bugs. A garden gnome, May, greets them and guides them to her home. The charm of this book lies in the fanciful exploration of the world of small things; the girls hop on toadstools, make dandelion swings, and navigate the tunnels the gnomes share with a panoply of small mammals. But Anna's eagerness borders on recklessness, and try as Tess may to slow her friend from hurtling ahead, Anna nearly gets herself into some serious scrapes. Kurilla's basic story is simple and swiftly communicated, but every panel, packed with richly colored flora, communicates a slower, more impressionistic story about the garden world and about Anna and Tess's friendship. Anna is white, Tess is Black, May is brown-skinned, and members of her gnome community vary widely in terms of skin tone. VERDICT A simple story and a sweet visual treat that promises to be an enjoyable read for both eager and hesitant beginning readers.-Emilia Packard

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Starred review from January 1, 2022
Grades K-3 *Starred Review* After hearing her mother talk about bees, Anna invites Tess over to plant seeds so the bees will have "bee food." After planting, the two friends fall asleep in the sun, waking to find a forest of flowers above their heads. May, a garden gnome, offers to show them around. Tess isn't sure any of this is a good idea and wants to go home, but Anna can't wait for adventure and, leaving Tess behind, follows May into a secret cave and down to her gnome home. Lushly illustrated, the full-page spreads almost beg to be examined. While this is not quite a search-and-find book, each of the different underground settings is full of fun and humorous details that reward readers with found treasure. The girls' friendship is refreshingly real, with the reluctant friend more than willing to stand up for herself when she feels she's not being heard. There's some gentle tension once Anna goes on ahead to explore the caves, but everything's happily resolved in a cheery twist ending. With a short page count and easy-to-read speech balloons, this is at a perfect level for chapter-book readers, and more-experienced readers will be charmed by the playful, cartoonish art in bright, saturated colors. Absolutely delightful.

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January 1, 2022
Anna, who is white, and her best friend, Tess, who is Black, go on an afternoon adventure to save bees (much to more-cautious Tess's dismay). The two plant some seeds, and the warm sun lulls them to sleep: "Wake me up when there are flowers," Tess says. When they awake, they discover they've been shrunk by a gnome, who invites them on a new adventure. Tess is unsure, but Anna is delighted. Soon, nothing is familiar to Tess, and she has had enough. Anna continues on without her, but soon she too becomes afraid and flees the gnomes, only to wake up and realize that it was all a dream. Anna's dream helps her realize that she hasn't been a good friend to Tess, as she has not been listening to what Tess wants. She encourages Tess to suggest what they should do next; meanwhile, having become excited after seeing that one of their flowers has sprouted, Tess is no longer as fearful of bees. Vibrant illustrations accompany this friendship story.

(Copyright 2022 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)