Gr 1—3—"Grandma has a way with flowers," reports the young narrator of this sweet tribute to intergenerational relationships and the circle of life. Readers know right away all the important things about the child's grandmother: the way she smells, the kind of tea she pours, her green thumb, and that she sometimes repeats things. This one characteristic foreshadows the woman's decline in health. When she is hospitalized and later dies, readers are as accepting of this last stage of life as is her granddaughter, who says, "Everything dies one day. I know that." Taking Grandma's gardening gloves as a keepsake, she promises to teach her own mother what she has learned about gardening, closing the circle of birth, death, and renewal. Castellucci's narrative details give voice to the perspicacity of a sensitive child—the smells, gestures, and alterations of experience that are noticed but rarely articulated. Denos's watercolor, pencil, and digital collage illustrations are bright and charming. Her depictions of the interactions of the winsome main character and her family will evoke recognition in readers and add to the story's usefulness as a primer for family loss.—Lisa Egly Lehmuller, St. Patrick's Catholic School, Charlotte, NC
A girl must cope with the death of her beloved grandmother, who taught her to garden and whose gardening gloves she ultimately claims as a memory-sustaining keepsake. At times Castellucci strains for a child's voice; still, the text is moving and the watercolor, pencil, and digital collage illustrations are awash with emotion.
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