The Gardener

PreS-Gr 2--When the Depression hits her family, Lydia Grace, 10, leaves her snug rural home and journeys alone by train to a nearby city to live with dour Uncle Jim "until things get better." Her suitcase is filled with seeds given to her by Grandma, who has taught her how to garden. Lydia Grace is a resilient child and is not daunted by dreary buildings, her dreary uncle, and his dreary bakery. Instead, she sees the empty window boxes and makes plans to fill them with flowers in the spring. She also plans to put a smile on her uncle's face. And she does. Come spring, the bakery is filled with flowers and many customers. Her greatest joy is the beautiful garden she has created on a once-barren, trash-strewn roof. Uncle Jim rewards her with his equivalent of a smile, a cake covered with flowery frosting. The story is mostly told in the double-paged, cartoonlike, and richly detailed illustrations. The brief text is in the form of letters, first to Uncle Jim and then to her family. Words are not needed to describe Lydia Grace's feelings when she arrives alone in the huge barren train station; when she shows off her horticultural talents; and when, finally, she returns to a sunnier train station on her way home. The detailed pictures bring the 1930s to life, especially the posters advertising bread for five cents a loaf. This is a story to share one-on-one, talking about the pictures together and then poring over the details alone.--Virginia Golodetz, St. Michael's College, Winooski, VT

Late in the summer of 1935, Lydia Grace's parents are out of work, and to help make ends meet they send Lydia Grace to live with Uncle Jim, a baker in the city, "until things get better." Told entirely through Lydia Grace's letters, the story radiates her utterly (and convincingly) sunny personality. Before she leaves, for example, she writes Uncle Jim with a list of "important things that I'm too shy to say to your face: 1. I know a lot about gardening, but nothing about baking. 2. I'm anxious to learn to bake, but is there any place to plant seeds?" With a subtlety finely attuned to Stewart's quietly emotional narrative, Small shows the hardy nature of the girl's optimism: she works long hours in her uncle's bakery and stays cheerful in his bleak apartment. Bloom by bloom, Lydia Grace adds splashes of color to her drab surroundings, eventually transforming a littered rooftop into a splendid garden as a surprise for her somber-faced but kind uncle. This inspiring offering from creative collaborators (The Library) gets much of its vitality from what it leaves unsaid: at first Lydia Grace misses her home and her garden; and, even though Uncle Jim never once succumbs to her plans to make him smile, she succeeds in bringing him happiness. The final picture, of Uncle Jim hugging Lydia Grace good-bye at the train station 10 months after her arrival, the bakery cat tucked in a carrier to accompany her home, speaks volumes about the vast impact one small individual can make. All ages. (Aug.)