A Gardener's Alphabet

Rating:
Summary: lovely, but...
Review: I got a chance to see Mary Azarian's new alphabet book yesterday. I think her illustrations are heartwarming and lovely, and have enjoyed them for years in the Cook's Garden catalog and in books like The Plain Reader. I'm also a gardener and a former children's librarian ,and I enjoy seeing gardening depicted in children's books. However, I must say I was sadly disapponted to see no people of color depicted in any of the illustrations in this book. Surely Ms. Azarian must have met a nonwhite gardener at some point in her life; if not, that's sad, and she is welcome to come to my house and meet me before the next book. As a person of color I felt saddened and left out as I looked through the pages; how would a small child (of any ethnicity) feel? Had it not been for this exclusion I would have joyfully given this book five stars.

Rating:
Summary: lovely, but...
Review: I got a chance to see Mary Azarian's new alphabet book yesterday. I think her illustrations are heartwarming and lovely, and have enjoyed them for years in the Cook's Garden catalog and in books like The Plain Reader. I'm also a gardener and a former children's librarian ,and I enjoy seeing gardening depicted in children's books. However, I must say I was sadly disapponted to see no people of color depicted in any of the illustrations in this book. Surely Ms. Azarian must have met a nonwhite gardener at some point in her life; if not, that's sad, and she is welcome to come to my house and meet me before the next book. As a person of color I felt saddened and left out as I looked through the pages; how would a small child (of any ethnicity) feel? Had it not been for this exclusion I would have joyfully given this book five stars.

Rating:
Summary: Illustrations match a Garden's Beauty
Review: Mary Azarian was inspired by her own garden and has used the perfect form of illustration - woodcuts - to bring to life the alphabet of a garden.

The perspecives range from above and below the ground and show not only the joys but also hardships that come from creating a garden.

The simple words and strong visuals will be great for children learning about the natural world, but is also a beautiful gift for the gardener or nature lover in your life.