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Summary
Summary
From the New York Times Bestselling author of The Pout-Pout Fish series
Dig holes in the autumn soil.
Drop the bulbs in one by one.
Cover them with dirt.
Come spring, the bulbs will flower!
In this lushly illustrated story from Deborah Diesen that celebrates life and growing up, a mother and daughter plant a garden to see how something small blooms into something as beautiful and strong as their love.
Author Notes
Deborah Diesen is the author of the Pout-Pout Fish book series, illustrated by Dan Hanna. The series includes picture book stories and some very short MINI-adventure books. Works as a financial manager for a nonprofit along with being an author.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (4)
School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 1-This sweet story opens with an illustration of a brown-skinned girl with pigtails and her white-skinned mother kneeling in the grass beside a patch of brown earth. The words, "Do you remember when we planted those flower bulbs together?" float on a white background. Imagery-rich text describes the autumn day that the two spent planting bulbs together. The first-person narration pairs nicely with the airy illustrations and shows the two throughout the year-first day of school, holidays, happy times, and tears. Meanwhile, the bulbs are beginning to grow under the soil. In the spring, when the pair return to see what has bloomed in their garden, readers discover that the flowers were not the only thing that grew. The child has also changed over the course of a year. The delicate watercolors enhance this simple narrative and clearly illustrate the love between the girl and her mother. VERDICT This tender offering is a fine addition to the array of mother/daughter books already available. Moms especially will find this tale about the passage of time most heartwarming.-Kimberly Tolson, Concord Free Public Library, MA © Copyright 2017. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
In an uplifting story about growth, change, and a mother's love, Diesen draws a gentle parallel between the growth of bulbs-planted by a mother, who is white, and her brown-skinned daughter-and way the daughter's has herself developed. So much happened throughout the year (school days, holidays, a family vacation) that the mother had almost forgotten about their plantings: "But the bulbs did not forget. Their roots pushed deep. Their stems grew strong. They heard the call of the sun. They decided how to answer." Diesen's (the Pout-Pout fish series) understated, verselike text speaks to the beauty of everyday moments, while Lundquist's (One Little Two Little Three Little Children) airy images depict the year's milestones with tenderness, including a moment during which the mother comforts her daughter in her arms-"the time that we cried." Children won't miss the connection between the way the bulbs "grew steadily. Surely. Day by day, each day a bit bigger" and the way that they are doing the very same thing. Ages 2-6. Illustrator's agent: Steven Malk, Writers House. (Mar.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Kirkus Review
Paralleling the planting of a garden in the fall and its blooming is the growth of a young girl and all the milestones that happen between fall and spring.Diesen never makes the comparison overt, which makes this book all the more delightful. "Do you remember when we planted those flower bulbs together?" In a flashback that lasts until the final three spreads, a white, redheaded mother recounts the fun of that fall day spent with her mixed-race daughter (dad has brown skin and black hair). Vignettes capture the passage of time and all the things that have happened since then: the first day of school, a family vacation, a swimming medal, a lost tooth, several holidays, a broken arm, a birthday, a snowstorm. The mom had almost forgotten about those bulbs. But under the ground, as the seasons turned, they were pushing down roots, sending up stems, and blooming. (Lundquist's spread illustrating this is gorgeous and captures both the changing seasons aboveground and the underground growth.) The final three spreads show the mother and daughter venturing out in a spring rain in their slickers and boots to see what has grown. The seemingly watercolor illustrations capture both the family members' love for one another and the beauty of the natural world.A lovely way of looking back on the year with a child who may not realize he or she has "bloomed." (Picture book. 3-7) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
A mother reminisces with her young daughter about the time they worked in the garden, planting bulbs in the autumn. When we looked at the garden we'd planted and thought about those bulbs, both of us secretly wondered how something so small could ever possibly grow big and tall. Diesen's tender text captures whimsical moments during the seasons and while the planted bulbs seemingly lie dormant. Vignettes from the biracial girl's year, including school, a vacation, Christmas, a broken arm, a birthday, and so on, fill the pages as the contemplative text remarks on the passage of time. Lundquist's warm and welcoming familial scenes, rendered in freewheeling brushstrokes of pastel tones, culminate in a lovely two-page spread depicting the progressive growth of the bulbs over the course of the year, followed by a burst of bright flowers when they finally bloom Day by day, each day a bit bigger. Stronger. As certain as love. This sunny paean to growth, both of the girl and the bed of flowers, is a heartwarming pick for a springtime read-aloud.--Lock, Anita Copyright 2017 Booklist