Through the Looking Glass Children's Book Reviews
Our Community Garden
Picture Book
For ages 3 to 6
Beyond Words Publishing, 2004 ISBN: 978-1582701097
Audrey and her friends Tomas, Alison, and Cassandra love to work in the community garden. Every day after school and during the summer vacation they spend hours playing and working in the garden. Each of the children has planted a vegetable that they especially hope will come up and do well. Audrey has planted eggplants, Tomas has planted tomatillos so that he can make his famous salsa, Cassandra has planted carrots, and Alison has planted special beans so that her mother can make her delicious bean and tofu stir fry.
Each of the children works hard to tend their special plants and soon enough they see that all their work has paid off when their plants are coming up and growing. There is much jubilation. Best of all, when the plants are harvested, the entire neighbourhood is invited to a feast to sample the wonderful community garden food.
This cheerful picture book with its bright folk art style artwork portrays the pleasure children can have when they grow things in their own garden and it also captures the multi-cultural nature of a city or town neighbourhood. By working together the children have created something for the whole neighbourhood to enjoy.
