Plant a Little Seed

From its handsome title-page introduction of fourteen vegetable-garden plants to the useful facts and tips arrayed on seed packets on its last page, this is an inspiring celebration of planning, growing, and enjoying the results of a community garden. A boy and girl with comfortably muddy knees are the gardeners. Vividly colored illustrations invest the whole cycle, from catalog to harvest, with energy.

From its handsome title-page introduction of fourteen vegetable-garden plants to the useful facts and tips arrayed on seed packets on its last page, this is an inspiring celebration of planning, growing, and enjoying the results of a community garden. Christensen’s cheery rhymed narration names no species (though some are labeled in the art, where most are easily recognizable); rather, she focuses on process ("We water and weed / and dream and wait") and contrasting growth habits ("Some plants grow up [sunflower], / some grow down [carrot], / some grow fast [lettuce], / some grow slowly [pumpkin]"). A boy and girl with comfortably muddy knees are the gardeners; their families join in a bountiful feast, a time to "inhale the garden’s rhapsody" and "sing a song of gratitude / for…all the springtimes yet to come." The ebullient art offers an abundance of authentic information -- essential activities and tools, plants in various stages of growth -- as well as a number of appealing creatures (rabbits, a raccoon -- pesky all, and better found in a book than a garden!). Last-page facts add such interesting distinctions as the technical difference between fruits and vegetables. Scratchboard-like illustrations in vivid, saturated colors invest the whole cycle, from catalog to harvest, with energy. All in all, an enticing invitation to find a garden plot and join in the fun. joanna rudge long