What Grew in Larry's Garden
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- $15.99
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- $15.99
Publisher Description
A girl and her neighbor grow a community from their garden. Grace thinks Larry’s garden is one of the wonders of the world. In his tiny backyard, Larry grows extraordinary vegetables, with Grace as his helper. They water and weed, plant and prune, hoe and harvest. And whenever there’s a problem, Grace and Larry solve it together. Grace soon learns that Larry has big plans for the vegetables in his garden. And when the garden faces its biggest problem yet, Grace follows Larry’s example to find the perfect solution. Amazing things can grow when you tend your garden with kindness.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this gentle narrative celebrating diligence, problem solving, and community, a girl helps nurture her neighbor's backyard vegetables. Together, Grace and Larry "watered and weeded," researching and instituting methods to deter insects, gastropods, and squirrels. But the duo faces a different challenge when Larry's neighbor adds a high fence panel that "makes him feel safe," enveloping the garden in darkness. Alary's diction is evocative ("buttery yellow carrots and purple potatoes. Rainbow chard and scarlet runner beans. Rosy tomatoes the color of ripe peaches"), and Reich's artwork, done in gouache and colored pencils with digital touches, has an expressive richness. Though contemporary context may cast the recurring motif of fences in a specific light, an author's note drives home the theme of sowing compassion, revealing the real-life inspiration: teacher Larry Zacharko and his tomato project, which helped students "who had troubles both at home and at school" to see the possibility of cultivating personal and communal growth. Ages 4 7.
