THE GOOD GARDEN

When the exhausted soil of their family plot doesn't yield enough and her father leaves to find work, María Luz plants the winter vegetables using new farming techniques she learns from her teacher, Don Pedro. Marigolds repel insect pests. Terracing and using compost and nutrient-fixing crops improve the soil so much that their garden can sustain her family again. This encouraging story by the author of One Hen (illustrated by Eugenie Fernandes, 2008) honors the work of Honduran farmer-trainer Elías Sanchez. Full-bleed illustrations, curving lines done with colored pencil on colored paper, extend across the gutters to show María Luz, her family and neighbors at work, the threatening coyote who wants to sell their produce and take his cut and the busy market where they sell cash crops and buy seed on their own. The sun waves long arms and beams at the improvement in their lives. Though the text is not simple, the appealing design will support less able readers. Endnotes add information about food security around the world and include a glossary of Spanish words. (Picture book. 7-10)