My Garden

My Garden. Kevin Henkes. 2010. February 2010. HarperCollins. 28 pages.

My mother has a garden. I'm her helper. I water. I weed. And I chase away the rabbits so that they don't eat all the lettuce. It's hard work, and my mother's garden is very nice, but if I had a garden...

I loved this one. I'm a bit surprised that I loved it. But I did. I loved how imaginative it is, how expressive. Her garden is a silly kind of wonderful.

So what kind of garden does this little girl dream up?! Well...the carrots would be invisible--she doesn't like carrots--and the rabbits would be chocolate! Sound good? Then imagine a garden where planting jelly beans and sea shells would result in colorful and abundant plants of the same. (I LOVED seeing the jelly bean bush!)

This little girl is very charming. She is a very delightful narrator.

© Becky Laney of Young Readers

Thirsty Thursday

Thirsty Thursday. by Phyllis Root. Illustrated by Helen Craig. 2009. August 2009. Candlewick Press. 24 pages.

One Thursday on Bonnie Bumble's farm, everyone was thirsty--especially the flowers.
The snapdragons snapped.
The tiger lilies growled.
The Johnny-jump-ups jumped up and down.
And the black-eyed Susans were spoiling for a fight.

What's poor Bonnie Bumble to do? Her plants are very thirsty! And there's not a rain cloud in sight?! But there is that one pitiful looking cloud floating by over there...if only there was a way to tempt it...

Can Bonnie think of a clever way to make the rain come?

This one is cute and funny! I liked it! And I do recommend it!

© Becky Laney of Young Readers