Parker Grows a Garden: Ready-to-Read Level 1

PreS-Gr 1–Parker, a young girl with brown skin, wants a garden of her own after visiting her nana’s garden, where beautiful roses grow. With the help of her family, Parker plants a garden in her own backyard. When the garden is dug, Nana, who is pale-skinned, provides some tulip bulbs and the long wait is on. Spring brings lovely pink tulips and all the birds and bees that go with them. Learning opportunities are lost by not mentioning why bees are important to gardens or whether tulips go into the ground with their tops or bottoms skyward. The illustrations lack any textures, which makes the characters seem oddly flat. At one point, Parker is excited about the tulips poking up with vines. The art shows no vines, nor do tulips generally grow on vines. The end of the book includes ideas for going on a nature walk so readers can see what is in their own neighborhoods.