A Garden for Lili

The grandmas in Lili’s building show her the secrets of gardening while preparing dishes from around the world in this buoyant companion to Dumplings for Lili.

Lili’s apartment building is having a block party! Lili heads down to the garden to get Nai Nai green onions for her fried rice recipe. There, she’s visited by all the grandmas in the building, who stop by to get ingredients for their block party dishes, bring scraps for Mr. Nibbles, the building’s composter, and show Lili the secrets to growing and maintaining a happy garden. When it’s time for the party, everyone brings a different delicious rice dish from around the world—Hashweh from Teta, Arroz Roja from Abuela, Carrot Risotto from Nonna, and more. After a busy morning in the garden, Lili’s extra proud of the strawberries she’s worked hard to grow!

A Garden for Lili is a cheerful, engaging, and informing celebration of urban gardening and the ways food connects our communities from award-winning picture book creator Melissa Iwai.