An illuminating ode to a natural space in an urban environment.
A garden grows in Harlem.
Not long ago, a teacher named Mr. Tony and one of his students, Nevaeh, transformed an abandoned lot across the street from their school into a thriving urban garden—events that were depicted in Harlem Grown (2020) and briefly recapped here. All winter long, Mr. Tony and Nevaeh discuss what they’ll plant when it gets warmer. When spring finally arrives, they’re excited but overwhelmed: “How on earth can we do all of this work ourselves?” With a little help from their friends, of course. They put up a sign inviting the community to help clean up the garden: “All are welcome! Young and old!” As people come together each Saturday to pull, rake, till, dig, fertilize, plant, and water, they learn new skills such as composting and recycling and discuss their favorite recipes. The community converges to share their delicious bounty at the harvest festival, showcased in two double gatefold spreads at the end. Hartland’s charming signature gouache illustrations convey the vibrancy of a green natural world in comparison to the energetic bustle of the surrounding city. The book closes with information on Harlem Grown, a real-life nonprofit founded by Hillery that began in 2011 as a single urban farm. Mr. Tony and Nevaeh are cued as Black; the community is diverse.
An illuminating ode to a natural space in an urban environment. (resources on urban gardening, tips on starting an urban school garden, recipe for vegetable soup) (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: July 2, 2024
ISBN: 9781665929783
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Paula Wiseman/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: April 5, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2024
A solid addition to Rotner’s seasonal series. Bring on summer.
Rotner follows up her celebrations of spring and autumn with this look at all things winter.
Beginning with the signs that winter is coming—bare trees, shorter days, colder temperatures—Rotner eases readers into the season. People light fires and sing songs on the solstice, trees and plants stop growing, and shadows grow long. Ice starts to form on bodies of water and windows. When the snow flies, the fun begins—bundle up and then build forts, make snowballs and snowmen (with eyebrows!), sled, ski (nordic is pictured), skate, snowshoe, snowboard, drink hot chocolate. Animals adapt to the cold as well. “Birds grow more feathers” (there’s nothing about fluffing and air insulation) and mammals, more hair. They have to search for food, and Rotner discusses how many make or find shelter, slow down, hibernate, or go underground or underwater to stay warm. One page talks about celebrating holidays with lights and decorations. The photos show a lit menorah, an outdoor deciduous tree covered in huge Christmas bulbs, a girl next to a Chinese dragon head, a boy with lit luminarias, and some fireworks. The final spread shows signs of the season’s shift to spring. Rotner’s photos, as always, are a big draw. The children are a marvelous mix of cultures and races, and all show their clear delight with winter.
A solid addition to Rotner’s seasonal series. Bring on summer. (Informational picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Oct. 16, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-8234-3976-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: Aug. 13, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2018
Enticing and eco-friendly.
Why and how to make a rain garden.
Having watched through their classroom window as a “rooftop-rushing, gutter-gushing” downpour sloppily flooded their streets and playground, several racially diverse young children follow their tan-skinned teacher outside to lay out a shallow drainage ditch beneath their school’s downspout, which leads to a patch of ground, where they plant flowers (“native ones with tough, thick roots,” Schaub specifies) to absorb the “mucky runoff” and, in time, draw butterflies and other wildlife. The author follows up her lilting rhyme with more detailed explanations of a rain garden’s function and construction, including a chart to help determine how deep to make the rain garden and a properly cautionary note about locating a site’s buried utility lines before starting to dig; she concludes with a set of leads to online information sources. Gómez goes more for visual appeal than realism. In her scenes, a group of smiling, round-headed, very small children in rain gear industriously lay large stones along a winding border with little apparent effort; nevertheless, her images of the little ones planting generic flowers that are tall and lush just a page turn later do make the outdoorsy project look like fun.
Enticing and eco-friendly. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: March 12, 2024
ISBN: 9781324052357
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Norton Young Readers
Review Posted Online: Feb. 17, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2024
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