Start with a single rose. Add hollyhocks and marigold, sunflowers and zinnias. Voilà! A quiet, tranquil, beautiful garden grows before your eyes. But who's that hiding in the corner?

This poetic book was amazing. I usually do not enjoy poetry very much but this book really changed that. I loved the way the book was set up, the amazing language, and the complex illustrations. The book’s style was so unique and interesting. The first page featured a lone rose and one line on a very empty page saying, “This is the rose in my garden.” Each page added a line of poetry to the blank page and an additional illustration to the rose. By the end of the book the poem took up multiple pages and the illustrations were beautiful and detailed. The style of this book made it super enjoyable for the reader but the beautiful language is what really made the book so great. The descriptive language that described the flowers, animals, and insects in the garden made the reader intrigued. I loved the line that said, “These are the sunflowers tallest of all, that rise by the tulips sturdy and tall. That circle the pansies placed in a clump, that crowd all the peonies pleasingly plump.” This detailed rhyme creates a thorough image in the head of the reader. I can almost see these flowers all meeting together in this garden and the language just makes it so seemingly beautiful. The illustrations were very important to enhance this story. I have never read a children’s book with such beautiful, detailed drawings. The illustrations were colorful and bright and amazing. These illustrations went side by side with the descriptive language to create an amazing experience for the reader. The main idea of this story was to give show the reader the beauty of the garden they are writing about. I loved this poetic book and would recommend it to any intermediate reader! ( )

What a feast for the eyes and balm for the soul. Starting with one lone flower, Lobel adds another, then another, and another to complete an incredible garden filled with zinnias, pansys, roses, marigolds and hollyhocks (to name a few).

Each rendition is incredibly beautiful with an ending of bee feasting on the nectar of a flower and a cat who cannot help but explore the bee, with the end result of a cat who is stung.

Such is nature in all the glory and splendor!

Highly recommended! Lobel is the award-winning author of the Frog and Toad Together children's series. ( )

A garden with multitudes of flowers. Each page adds another flower. Finally it ends with a curious cat getting stung by a bee. Really cute story and very accurate.

Pierce College Library
3-6 Years

This book is about a garden that has alot of different stuff and then at the end there is a rose.
Age 3-5