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The Gardener
By the author-and-illustrator team of the bestselling The Library
Lydia Grace Finch brings a suitcase full of seeds, plenty of stationery, and a passion for gardening to the big gray city, where she goes to stay with her Uncle Jim, a cantankerous baker. There she initiates a gradual transformation, brightening the bakery and bringing smiles to customers' faces with the flowers she grows. But it is in a secret place that Lydia Grace works on her masterpiece, which she hopes will be powerful enough to make even Uncle Jim smile.
Colored by a Depression-era setting, The Gardener introduces readers to a winsome young heroine, whose generosity will reward all who meet her.
The Gardener is a 1997 New York Times Book Review Notable Children's Book of the Year and a 1998 Caldecott Honor Book.
Lydia Grace Finch brings a suitcase full of seeds, plenty of stationery, and a passion for gardening to the big gray city, where she goes to stay with her Uncle Jim, a cantankerous baker. There she initiates a gradual transformation, brightening the bakery and bringing smiles to customers' faces with the flowers she grows. But it is in a secret place that Lydia Grace works on her masterpiece, which she hopes will be powerful enough to make even Uncle Jim smile.
Colored by a Depression-era setting, The Gardener introduces readers to a winsome young heroine, whose generosity will reward all who meet her.
The Gardener is a 1997 New York Times Book Review Notable Children's Book of the Year and a 1998 Caldecott Honor Book.
34 pages, Hardcover
Published August 30, 1997
23 people are currently reading
3936 people want to read
About the author
Sarah Stewart
56 books117 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
Wife of famed illustrator, David Small, Sarah Stewart has written a number of children's books. She grew up in Texas, and lives in Michigan with her husband.
http://us.macmillan.com/author/sarahs...
Wife of famed illustrator, David Small, Sarah Stewart has written a number of children's books. She grew up in Texas, and lives in Michigan with her husband.
http://us.macmillan.com/author/sarahs...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 652 reviews
July 5, 2019
I love this little book! This book made my heart sing.
This is about a gardener. She is about 8 or so. I’m not as big a gardener as Lydia Grace is, but I do love gardens and plants. This is set during the depression of the 30s. A girl has to go live with her uncle in the big city when her parents both lose their jobs. Lydia Grace was a gardener with her grandmother.
The story is completely told through letters Lydia Grace sends to the people in her life. It’s like Dear Mr. Crenshaw and I love that story and that device. We see the big city and it’s gray and drab. Lydia Grace is so excited to be there and her family sends her seeds and dirt to grow things and Lydia Grace finds anything she can to seed things in and have them grow. She finds a secret place. Toward the end of Spring, we see her building and there are potted plants everywhere and so much color around and the people love the building.
This was one of my favorite stories. I see it as a healing story. It is a metaphor for the kind of change we like to help patients achieve in our work. We plant seeds together and the person will grow them. Being a gardener is much like being a healer. Wow, I think that helps me figure out my business model a little bit. OK.
The niece loves this book too. I don’t know if it’s as much as me, but she loves it. This is the girl who asked from Santa, on her 3rd Christmas, to have flowers. She is my gardening buddy. My nephew loves to garden too, but he loves all the bugs more than the plants, I think. We get him involved looking for roly polies and worms. He likes it because his sister does, mostly. Anyway, the niece did give this 5 stars. She loved the surprise at the end for the uncle. We were all disappointed the uncle didn’t smile, but he seemed to cry. She loved the rooftop of the building. The nephew gave this 4 stars too. I think we liked it so much that it made him like it that much too.
This is about a gardener. She is about 8 or so. I’m not as big a gardener as Lydia Grace is, but I do love gardens and plants. This is set during the depression of the 30s. A girl has to go live with her uncle in the big city when her parents both lose their jobs. Lydia Grace was a gardener with her grandmother.
The story is completely told through letters Lydia Grace sends to the people in her life. It’s like Dear Mr. Crenshaw and I love that story and that device. We see the big city and it’s gray and drab. Lydia Grace is so excited to be there and her family sends her seeds and dirt to grow things and Lydia Grace finds anything she can to seed things in and have them grow. She finds a secret place. Toward the end of Spring, we see her building and there are potted plants everywhere and so much color around and the people love the building.
This was one of my favorite stories. I see it as a healing story. It is a metaphor for the kind of change we like to help patients achieve in our work. We plant seeds together and the person will grow them. Being a gardener is much like being a healer. Wow, I think that helps me figure out my business model a little bit. OK.
The niece loves this book too. I don’t know if it’s as much as me, but she loves it. This is the girl who asked from Santa, on her 3rd Christmas, to have flowers. She is my gardening buddy. My nephew loves to garden too, but he loves all the bugs more than the plants, I think. We get him involved looking for roly polies and worms. He likes it because his sister does, mostly. Anyway, the niece did give this 5 stars. She loved the surprise at the end for the uncle. We were all disappointed the uncle didn’t smile, but he seemed to cry. She loved the rooftop of the building. The nephew gave this 4 stars too. I think we liked it so much that it made him like it that much too.
January 30, 2026
This is an illustrated book by David Small written by his wife Sarah Stewart.
It is a story delightfully told in letters by a little girl named Lydia Grace during the depression, beginning in August, 1935.
Lydia Grace has lived with her family in the country with her grandmother and parents.
And…One of the things she has learned most is how to garden flowers and vegetables.
But…The depression has caused her father to lose his job.
And so…She has to go live in the city with her Uncle Jim.
To try and make things palatable, she decides to grow a garden, and beautify the city with flowers and vegetables.
This is a story of how one little girl can make a difference just by being present. By having a positive attitude, even when others may be surrounded by dark times.
This is also a story of family.
And…The importance of family during difficult times.
This story would be attractive for ages 3-9 years, Grade levels 1st – 3rd grade.
It is a story delightfully told in letters by a little girl named Lydia Grace during the depression, beginning in August, 1935.
Lydia Grace has lived with her family in the country with her grandmother and parents.
And…One of the things she has learned most is how to garden flowers and vegetables.
But…The depression has caused her father to lose his job.
And so…She has to go live in the city with her Uncle Jim.
To try and make things palatable, she decides to grow a garden, and beautify the city with flowers and vegetables.
This is a story of how one little girl can make a difference just by being present. By having a positive attitude, even when others may be surrounded by dark times.
This is also a story of family.
And…The importance of family during difficult times.
This story would be attractive for ages 3-9 years, Grade levels 1st – 3rd grade.
December 8, 2024
Art by Ekaterina Babok
A breathing with life story with stunning illustrations I admired and loved the way it was told - in heartwarming, sincere little letters! It gave me an idea to maybe create a story on my own almost the same way. Maybe I am wrong assuming so, but I always believed that the stories just come into writers' minds. Sometimes (but rarely) little snippets come into mine. They never form into more larger stories, but maybe I could shape them into a form similar, but different, to a letter one 🤔 It's just an idea, but I like it :)
What I didn't know about when starting this book was that Ms. Stewart and Mr. Small are married - how wonderful it is to create stories together!
Thank you so much, Darla for bringing this treasure of a book to my attention! 🩷
January 20, 2019
Now with regard to Sarah Stewart's The Gardener, I indeed adore Lydia Grace Finch as a character, as main protagonist, as well as her 1930's (and always supplied with a date) letters to her family back "home" (sweet and descriptive little epistles that truly and glowingly show an authentic feeling sense of time and place, including her impressions of her new urban life, and indeed of having to get used to new surroundings, even if Lydia's move to the city to stay with her uncle is temporary and is thus not a permanent relocation). And of course and naturally I also both appreciate and very much love how Lydia's family sticks together and supports one another, how her Uncle Jim takes Lydia, takes his niece to live (and work) with him in the city (at his bakery) until the Great American Depression of the 1930s (and the resulting joblessness of Lydia's mother and father) has ceased or at least has become less of a financial burden. And yes, I also massively and with a very much smiling countenance do find Lydia's commitment to gardening refreshing, and how she uses her love of flowers and the gardening skills taught to her by her grandmother to bring joy, a myriad of plants and the natural beauty of gardens into her uncle's urban metropolitan life as a baker (not to mention that I have equally very much appreciated that while Uncle Jim's two assistants at the bakery are clearly of African-American ethnicity, this is never in any way belaboured in Sarah Stewart's textual representation of The Gardener, and thus of course, also never belaboured in the letters Lydia Grace Finch continuously writes to her family, to her mother, father and grandmother, as it is thankfully and wonderfully simply shown as a natural, as just a normal fact of life).
However, as a person who more often than not tends to have a serious (if not even a potentially frowning) facial expression (especially when I am concentrating on something, such as when I am counting or reading, and the fact remains that I am pretty much always reading something) and thus does not tend to smile all that much at the best of times, I have to admit that on an entirely personal level, I have found Lydia Grace Finch's presented and almost constant annoyances and frustrations with the fact that her Uncle Jim does not smile a bit off-putting and even potentially worrisome (especially that in the majority of her letters, Lydia either mentions that Uncle Jim does not smile or that she is planning on making him smile). For Uncle Jim's unsmiling face does in NO way ever indicate that he is also a curmudgeonly individual (as EVERY description of Uncle Jim in Lydia's letters home shows the exact opposite of a miserly grump, presents a sweet-tempered and pleasant man, who might not smile but who has a heart of pure gold filled with love and tenderness). And while I do agree with Lydia wanting to make her Uncle Jim happy (to expose him to flowers and the joy of gardening), I have actually felt more than a bit offended that one of the main reasons why she wants create a gardening utopia for her uncle is to get him to physically smile (as he, very much like me, might simply not be someone who smiles a lot if at all, but that this does not of course have to mean in any manner that one is miserable, that one has personality issues and problems, that one is unhappy or potentially nasty, as it might just be one's natural mode of physical appearance and natural expression).
Now as to David Small's accompanying illustrations, they are indeed lively and descriptively realistic (and at the same time also imaginative and emotion-filled), providing a lovely and visually stunning compliment to and for Sarah Stewart's presented narrative. But while I can without a doubt both understand and appreciate the 1998 Caldecott Honour designation won by David Small's pictorial renderings and believe that The Gardener presents a successful and engaging marriage of text and image, for and to me that there has been such a recurring issue made in The Gardener by author Sarah Stewart and by extension her main protagonist, Lydia Grace Finch about the simple truth of the matter that Uncle Jim does not tend to smile, this has indeed frustrated me to the point that I can and will only consider a high three star ranking for The Gardener (for due to my own individual issues with people often making snarky and critical comments about my own tendency to display a generally serious and often unsmiling countenance, Lydia's complaints in her letters to her family that Uncle Jim does not smile and that she somehow needs to change this, well it tends to grate and chafe rather a bit).
However, as a person who more often than not tends to have a serious (if not even a potentially frowning) facial expression (especially when I am concentrating on something, such as when I am counting or reading, and the fact remains that I am pretty much always reading something) and thus does not tend to smile all that much at the best of times, I have to admit that on an entirely personal level, I have found Lydia Grace Finch's presented and almost constant annoyances and frustrations with the fact that her Uncle Jim does not smile a bit off-putting and even potentially worrisome (especially that in the majority of her letters, Lydia either mentions that Uncle Jim does not smile or that she is planning on making him smile). For Uncle Jim's unsmiling face does in NO way ever indicate that he is also a curmudgeonly individual (as EVERY description of Uncle Jim in Lydia's letters home shows the exact opposite of a miserly grump, presents a sweet-tempered and pleasant man, who might not smile but who has a heart of pure gold filled with love and tenderness). And while I do agree with Lydia wanting to make her Uncle Jim happy (to expose him to flowers and the joy of gardening), I have actually felt more than a bit offended that one of the main reasons why she wants create a gardening utopia for her uncle is to get him to physically smile (as he, very much like me, might simply not be someone who smiles a lot if at all, but that this does not of course have to mean in any manner that one is miserable, that one has personality issues and problems, that one is unhappy or potentially nasty, as it might just be one's natural mode of physical appearance and natural expression).
Now as to David Small's accompanying illustrations, they are indeed lively and descriptively realistic (and at the same time also imaginative and emotion-filled), providing a lovely and visually stunning compliment to and for Sarah Stewart's presented narrative. But while I can without a doubt both understand and appreciate the 1998 Caldecott Honour designation won by David Small's pictorial renderings and believe that The Gardener presents a successful and engaging marriage of text and image, for and to me that there has been such a recurring issue made in The Gardener by author Sarah Stewart and by extension her main protagonist, Lydia Grace Finch about the simple truth of the matter that Uncle Jim does not tend to smile, this has indeed frustrated me to the point that I can and will only consider a high three star ranking for The Gardener (for due to my own individual issues with people often making snarky and critical comments about my own tendency to display a generally serious and often unsmiling countenance, Lydia's complaints in her letters to her family that Uncle Jim does not smile and that she somehow needs to change this, well it tends to grate and chafe rather a bit).
September 8, 2010
I loved this team’s book The Library and so I wanted to read this book too. This is another gem of a book from this pair, as utterly charming as the other book. I will definitely make a point to read all of Stewart-Small created books.
The illustrations are completely delightful; I just loved them. They would make the book sing all on their own, even without the story.
The story is told via Lydia Grace’s letters, first to her uncle, then back home to her parents and grandmother, and they made me feel warm and fuzzy. Lydia Grace must go to live with her baker uncle in the city when her father is out of work during the Great Depression. She certainly makes the best of things, and is someone to admire and enjoy. She excels at gardening, including preparing a surprise for her unsmiling uncle that she hopes will make him smile. The Depression era is captured very well; this is an excellent historical fiction story for young people. Cat lovers will appreciate the cat Otis.
This is a lovely book, and I could spend a long, long time happily looking at the pictures.
The illustrations are completely delightful; I just loved them. They would make the book sing all on their own, even without the story.
The story is told via Lydia Grace’s letters, first to her uncle, then back home to her parents and grandmother, and they made me feel warm and fuzzy. Lydia Grace must go to live with her baker uncle in the city when her father is out of work during the Great Depression. She certainly makes the best of things, and is someone to admire and enjoy. She excels at gardening, including preparing a surprise for her unsmiling uncle that she hopes will make him smile. The Depression era is captured very well; this is an excellent historical fiction story for young people. Cat lovers will appreciate the cat Otis.
This is a lovely book, and I could spend a long, long time happily looking at the pictures.
October 23, 2011
I loved this story! Sarah Stewart & David Small did an amazing job communicating the story line from before the story began until after the story was over, every page is telling the story!
Set in the 1930's Depression era, we meet a young girl, Lydia Grace Finch, who lives with her Mother, Father & Grandmother in a rural town. Lydia loves gardening - the beauty of her garden is her escape and way of dealing with the difficulties of life around her. With both of her parents being out of work, she goes to stay with her Uncle Jim and work for him in his bakery. Nervous, and unsure of what she may face in the city, she finds comfort in the seeds that her Grandmother sends with her and hopes for a place to have a small garden. As she adjusts to her new city life she looks for ways to bring joy to her Uncle Jim, who has his own set of things to worry about. She hopes to bring a smile to his face by creating a lovely garden in a "secret place", and in the end, brings joy to everyone around her.
This book is a reminder that happiness can be achieved no matter what your financial status. Find joy in the simplicities of life, use the talents that you have, the things around you - be creative! When life hands you a cracked tea cup, plant a flower in it!
Set in the 1930's Depression era, we meet a young girl, Lydia Grace Finch, who lives with her Mother, Father & Grandmother in a rural town. Lydia loves gardening - the beauty of her garden is her escape and way of dealing with the difficulties of life around her. With both of her parents being out of work, she goes to stay with her Uncle Jim and work for him in his bakery. Nervous, and unsure of what she may face in the city, she finds comfort in the seeds that her Grandmother sends with her and hopes for a place to have a small garden. As she adjusts to her new city life she looks for ways to bring joy to her Uncle Jim, who has his own set of things to worry about. She hopes to bring a smile to his face by creating a lovely garden in a "secret place", and in the end, brings joy to everyone around her.
This book is a reminder that happiness can be achieved no matter what your financial status. Find joy in the simplicities of life, use the talents that you have, the things around you - be creative! When life hands you a cracked tea cup, plant a flower in it!
June 5, 2009
Another winner from the husband-wife team of Stewart and Small. The illustrations in this one are what really captivated me, but I appreciated all the letters, too (the story is told entirely of letters) and found it at once a poignant and marvelously hopeful sort of story. It takes place during the depression and shows the all-too-common story of a young girl being sent to stay with distant relatives because the parents cannot afford to keep her with father out of work. Her uncle, a baker, never smiles but she has figured out A Secret Plan and she believes the result will make him smile--a hint: it has to do with flowers and roof-tops! :-) Charming story that is not only a good snapshot of history but an ode to those with green thumbs!
August 10, 2016
**** Caldecott Honor (1998) ****
This is one of the most wonderful and heart-warming picture books I have ever read. Absolutely splendid. You cannot help but get a little misty eyed at the beauty and love brought by one little girl into the lives and the world around her. This may be the best picture book I've seen in recent memory.
This is one of the most wonderful and heart-warming picture books I have ever read. Absolutely splendid. You cannot help but get a little misty eyed at the beauty and love brought by one little girl into the lives and the world around her. This may be the best picture book I've seen in recent memory.
November 10, 2014
I love to garden. Weeds. Dirt. Seeds. Birds on the fence. Neighbors walking by and saying hello. I am in my element. So when I discovered THE GARDENER I had to read the book.
It is a lovely children's story that takes place during the Depression. Lydia Grace Finch's parents and grandmother are having a tough go so they send her to the city to live with her Uncle Jim. He is a baker but he never smiles.
Lydia Grace more than makes up for his solemnness. Soon flowers and vegetables are growing everywhere with customers asking for her help. Everything she does is to earn a smile from her uncle. The pictures are awesome, the story is a treasure and it has a very meaningful ending.
It is a lovely children's story that takes place during the Depression. Lydia Grace Finch's parents and grandmother are having a tough go so they send her to the city to live with her Uncle Jim. He is a baker but he never smiles.
Lydia Grace more than makes up for his solemnness. Soon flowers and vegetables are growing everywhere with customers asking for her help. Everything she does is to earn a smile from her uncle. The pictures are awesome, the story is a treasure and it has a very meaningful ending.
June 10, 2017
Inspiring and beautiful. I love classic children's books like this.
June 8, 2019
During the Great Depression, young Lydia Grace is sent to stay with her uncle in the big city until her father finds a job. She helps out in the bakery, and plants flowers and vegetables wherever she can. Her letters home tell of her gardening efforts, and her hopes to put a smile on her uncle's face. A lovely story, with beautiful pictures by David Small. And, it all ends with a great big "Awww!"
Bloom where you're planted!
Bloom where you're planted!
February 1, 2012
This is a charming, touching story set in the era of the Great Depression. It tells of a little girl named Lydia Grace who is probably between 8-12 yrs old (the book does not specify her age). She lives out in the country with her Grandma, Papa, and Mama and loves to work in the garden with her Grandma. One day, she is told by her Grandma that she will be moving to the city (NYC)to live with her Uncle Jim and work in his bakery to help her family financially and as stated in the book, "until things get better". So she takes a day-long train ride to the city and is soon overwhelmed by the enormity of the train station in the city. The story follows her almost year-long stay with her uncle (who doesn't like to smile) and illustrates her efforts to liven up the apartment and bakery with her gardening skills. She soon finds a secret place, the rooftop of the building, where she plans to use her gardening skills to turn the space into a colorful oasis in the middle of the concrete jungle. Almost a year after she left her house in the country, Uncle Jim surprises Lydia Grace at the rooftop with a beautiful cake covered with flowers and a letter telling her that she would be going back home.
The story is told through letters written by Lydia Grace to her Grandma, Papa, and Mama and wonderfully complement the illustrations. Although the story is set in the time of the Great Depression, the warm yet vibrant colors throughout the pages convey the joy and positive attitude that permeates from Lydia Grace. In addition, the CD that accompanies this book enhances the mood of the story (from the bustling noises in the city including the honking of horns, to the sound of the train whistling in the background, to the soft tones of the background music throughout the telling of the story). This book highlights the life of people (and specifically kids) and the sacrifices they had to make during this diffucult time in U.S. history. This would be a good book to read to students grades 1st-3rd when discussing topics related to U.S. history/social studies. Another book that could complement this discussion would be "What You Know First", written by Patricia MacLachlan and illustrated by Barry Moser.
Overall, this is a book I would highly recommed reading along with using the accompanying CD.
The story is told through letters written by Lydia Grace to her Grandma, Papa, and Mama and wonderfully complement the illustrations. Although the story is set in the time of the Great Depression, the warm yet vibrant colors throughout the pages convey the joy and positive attitude that permeates from Lydia Grace. In addition, the CD that accompanies this book enhances the mood of the story (from the bustling noises in the city including the honking of horns, to the sound of the train whistling in the background, to the soft tones of the background music throughout the telling of the story). This book highlights the life of people (and specifically kids) and the sacrifices they had to make during this diffucult time in U.S. history. This would be a good book to read to students grades 1st-3rd when discussing topics related to U.S. history/social studies. Another book that could complement this discussion would be "What You Know First", written by Patricia MacLachlan and illustrated by Barry Moser.
Overall, this is a book I would highly recommed reading along with using the accompanying CD.
March 15, 2020
Author Sarah Stewart and illustrator David Small - the same team behind such picture-books as
The Library
,
The Friend
and
The Journey
- turn to the Great Depression in this lovely tale of Lydia Grace Finch, a young girl sent to live with her Uncle Jim in the city when her father loses his job, and her mother is unable to take in much work as a dress-maker. Helping out in Uncle Jim's bakery, and befriending his two assistants, Ed and Emma Beech, Lydia Grace finds herself longing for two things: the abundant gardens of her rural home, and a way to make Uncle Jim smile. Eventually, she hits on a plan that will, she hopes, accomplish both...
Chosen as a Caldecott Honor Book in 1998, The Gardener is (not surprisingly) a book with immense visual charm. It is also a book with a strong story, engaging characters - particularly its flower-mad heroine, Lydia Grace! - and an interesting historical setting. Gently, subtly, without any apparent straining after effect, both author and artist convince the reader that she is in 1930s America, traveling by rail with young Lydia Grace, and seeing the city for the first time. The transformation that she works, in the tiny corner of the metropolis that she comes to call home (however temporarily) is good to see, and reminded me of a little-known children's novel from the 1950s, The Hidden Garden , that I greatly enjoyed reading. Something about this kind of narrative, in which the ugly is made beautiful, and the barren, bountiful, is just so very satisfying! Highly recommended, both to young gardeners and garden-lovers, and to fans of this author/illustrator team!
Chosen as a Caldecott Honor Book in 1998, The Gardener is (not surprisingly) a book with immense visual charm. It is also a book with a strong story, engaging characters - particularly its flower-mad heroine, Lydia Grace! - and an interesting historical setting. Gently, subtly, without any apparent straining after effect, both author and artist convince the reader that she is in 1930s America, traveling by rail with young Lydia Grace, and seeing the city for the first time. The transformation that she works, in the tiny corner of the metropolis that she comes to call home (however temporarily) is good to see, and reminded me of a little-known children's novel from the 1950s, The Hidden Garden , that I greatly enjoyed reading. Something about this kind of narrative, in which the ugly is made beautiful, and the barren, bountiful, is just so very satisfying! Highly recommended, both to young gardeners and garden-lovers, and to fans of this author/illustrator team!
September 26, 2009
This magical story captivated my attention from the first page. Lydia Grace is sent to live with ther uncle during the Great Depression, and her story is told through a series of letters written home. Her missions are to make her grouchy uncle smile, as well as nurture her growing green thumb by creating a rooftop garden. The use of letters are a narrative is quite attention getting and helps to give insight into her private thoughts as well. Lydia Grace's cheerful and confident spirit in tumultous times can provide inspiration to readers of all ages. The colorful sketch-like drawings are a great pair with the story, and at times serve as the cheif venue of communication to the reader. With out them, we would miss the tender hug between uncle and niece that wraps up the story and makes the heart happy at the end. This book is truly deserving of the Caldecott Honor it received, as well as its inclusion in the Chicago Public Library Summer Reading Program in 2007.
September 9, 2011
I adored The Gardener, it is a magnificent book that can teach children to always preserve. I loved Lydia Grace's determination that pushed her to plant a garden and make her Uncle Jim smile. I also admired her patience, she seemed to have so much for a young child. Gardening takes a lot of time, and it was so admirable to see how hard she worked on that roof garden, her love for plants and her family really made me smile.
The pictures in this book are phenomenal as well. I loved how Small put splashes of color on the characters while the settings were a bit more monotone. Also the way the flowers were colored brought the city setting to life.
I highly recommend that this book be read to children from kindergarten to about second grade. Not only is the story rewarding but the pictures are attention grabbing as well.
The pictures in this book are phenomenal as well. I loved how Small put splashes of color on the characters while the settings were a bit more monotone. Also the way the flowers were colored brought the city setting to life.
I highly recommend that this book be read to children from kindergarten to about second grade. Not only is the story rewarding but the pictures are attention grabbing as well.
June 27, 2017
The Gardener is both historical fiction and a concept book for writing letters. Set during the Great Depression, young Lydia Grace writes home to her Mama, Papa, and Grandma from the city where she is staying with her Uncle Jim while her parents sort things out in the country. Lydia Grace helps out at her Uncle Jim's bakery, goes to school, and secretly gardens on the roof of the building. Her green thumb becomes well-known, but none more than those closest to her.
There are many good picture books that introduce letter writing. As I was reading this one, I realized that it is unique in that it prescribes a pattern and incorporates science. If the class was starting a unit on plants or were actually planting a garden, this would be a welcome introduction into keeping a journal of their activities. Perhaps they could even be writing to someone about the progress of their garden.
There are many good picture books that introduce letter writing. As I was reading this one, I realized that it is unique in that it prescribes a pattern and incorporates science. If the class was starting a unit on plants or were actually planting a garden, this would be a welcome introduction into keeping a journal of their activities. Perhaps they could even be writing to someone about the progress of their garden.
January 24, 2019
I think I enjoyed this even more than I did The Library. Just lovely. I especially loved the last illustration after the text was over - a tear came to my eye just as one did to Emma's.
Btw, I really appreciate that Ed and Emma are what would have been called then 'Negro.' It's so nice to see that not everyone was hatefully racist, even back then.
edit - I shared this with my family (all adult males) before returning it to the library, and they liked it too.
Btw, I really appreciate that Ed and Emma are what would have been called then 'Negro.' It's so nice to see that not everyone was hatefully racist, even back then.
edit - I shared this with my family (all adult males) before returning it to the library, and they liked it too.
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July 22, 2023What a wholesomely mundane and meaningful little one! I want more of Lydia’s letters, would never get enough of this sweetness.
March 9, 2019
A gorgeous tale of an enthusiastic and loving young girl who experiences hardship at a very young age, but handles it with grace and a sunny disposition that brings joy to the people in her life.
The way she transforms her little spot in the city (and indeed, her Uncle's Bakery) is both uplifting and beautiful. The illustrations are fantastic and make you want to go out and plant a garden. A rare 5 star rating. We absolutely loved this book.
This book was selected as one of the books for the May 2014 - Gardening discussion at the Picture-Book Club in the Children's Books Group here at Goodreads.
This book was also selected as one of the books for the February 2017- Caldecott Honors 1998-2002 discussion at the Picture-Book Club in the Children's Books Group here at Goodreads.
It was also featured as one of the selections for the January/February 2019 Moving & Immigration-themed reads for the Picture-Book Club in the Children's Books Group here at Goodreads.
The way she transforms her little spot in the city (and indeed, her Uncle's Bakery) is both uplifting and beautiful. The illustrations are fantastic and make you want to go out and plant a garden. A rare 5 star rating. We absolutely loved this book.
This book was selected as one of the books for the May 2014 - Gardening discussion at the Picture-Book Club in the Children's Books Group here at Goodreads.
This book was also selected as one of the books for the February 2017- Caldecott Honors 1998-2002 discussion at the Picture-Book Club in the Children's Books Group here at Goodreads.
It was also featured as one of the selections for the January/February 2019 Moving & Immigration-themed reads for the Picture-Book Club in the Children's Books Group here at Goodreads.
November 11, 2022
Aww ... this sweet little girl and her touching story will melt your heart. Such an endearing story of love, kindness and beauty. Not to be missed!
Ages 4+
Cleanliness: nothing to note.
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Ages 4+
Cleanliness: nothing to note.
**Like my reviews? Then you should follow me! Because I have hundreds more just like this one. With each review, I provide a Cleanliness Report, mentioning any objectionable content I come across so that parents and/or conscientious readers (like me) can determine beforehand whether they want to read a book or not. Content surprises are super annoying, especially when you’re 100+ pages in, so here’s my attempt to help you avoid that!
So Follow or Friend me here on GoodReads! And be sure to check out my bio page to learn a little about me and the Picture Book/Chapter Book Calendars I sell on Etsy!
October 5, 2017
I love the detailed illustrations in this one, coupled with Lydia Grace’s letters from her Uncle Jim’s house. I expected the ending to be hokey, but it was surprisingly satisfying, and the final image almost brought tears to my eyes. I love the little details in the background of the pictures - FDR’s photo hanging on the wall of the bakery, the cat hanging around on the outskirts of the action on almost every page, the watermelon waiting to be eaten on the roof when the garden is finally finished. Even the end papers are part of the story. This is one of those perfect picture books where words and illustrations are equally important and equally well-done.
September 15, 2019
The Gardener is written in an epistle format through charming letters penned by a young girl named Lydia Grace. Set during the Great Depression, in the years 1935 and 1936, Lydia Grace, who loves gardening, is sent away from home to live in the city, with her Uncle, a baker. The husband and wife team, who wrote and illustrated this book together, created a wonderful story that will bring a warm smile to your face.
Caldecott Honor: 1998
Caldecott Honor: 1998
May 17, 2019
4.5 STARS
A sweet book about a young girl who loves to garden set during the Depression. She shares her joy of gardening with those around her and is able to transform her uncle’s bakery into a cheery place teeming with plants. The artwork was beautiful and I enjoyed the epistolary style.
A sweet book about a young girl who loves to garden set during the Depression. She shares her joy of gardening with those around her and is able to transform her uncle’s bakery into a cheery place teeming with plants. The artwork was beautiful and I enjoyed the epistolary style.
March 4, 2019
What an utter charmer of a picture book! Sarah Stewart's old-fashioned epistolary story is brought to life in David Small's radiant watercolors. A real keeper.
December 27, 2023
The little girl reminds me of the Anne of Green Gables.
February 11, 2024
Utterly heartening and enchanting.
January 13, 2025
This is a beautiful book. We've read it lots.
C: *tearing up at the beginning of the book*
Me: it does start sad doesn't it?
C: but it ends happy.
C: *tearing up at the beginning of the book*
Me: it does start sad doesn't it?
C: but it ends happy.
May 7, 2018
Behind many of those nondescript smaller apartment buildings in NYC that are now fast disappearing is a real surprise. The two back ground floor apartments have really nice sized garden out their back door. A friend of mine has her office in one of those buildings on the Upper East Side, and this weekend, I spent some time going to garden centers in Connecticut and helping her pick out some new plants for her backyard garden.
When I got home, I pulled out my copy of The Gardener by Sarah Stewart and reread it with a great deal of pleasure. The story unfolds in a series of letters written by young Lydia Grace Finch, beginning in August 1935, when the depression was still impacting so many people in the world, including her family. Lydia Grace is leaving the country and going to live temporarily with her Uncle Jim in the city, and the first letter is addressed to him, in which she tells him three things about herself: 1- she knows a lot about gardening but not baking; 2- she would like to learn to bake, but is there any place to plant seeds?; 3- she likes to be called Lydia Grace. Packed in her suitcase, along with her clothes, are envelopes full of seeds, including marigold, cosmos, and my personal favorite zinnia. Uncle Jim is a baker, lives in an apartment over the bakery, and, Lydia Grace soon discovers, he never smiles.
In letters to her parents and her grandmother, Lydia Grace writes about everything that is going on with her in the city. In the bakery, she meets Emma and Ed Beech, Uncle Jim's friends who also work for him. Emma teaches Lydia Grace to knead bread and in exchange, she teaches Emma the Latin names of flowers. As the spring of 1936 approaches, Lydia Grace begins planting in cracked teacups, tubs, and boxes growing the seeds she brought with her and any that she is sent from home. Soon, she is growing flowers, lettuce, radishes, and onions in window boxes and on the fire escape, transforming their nondescript building into a bright, colorful, flourishing vertical garden.
But it is in the secret place (the unused roof) that Lydia Grace discovers where she really shows her gardening skills, creating a place of beauty in the midst of the city. She plants and tends her rooftop garden in secret, finally surprising Uncle Jim on the Fourth of July. But can she get to Uncle Jim to finally smile?
Maybe. A few days after the July 4th surprise, Uncle Jim has one of his own when he closes the bakery for half a day and surprises Lydia Grace with a beautiful cake covered in icing flowers. Lydia Grace is certain that cake is worth at least 1,000 smiles. What do you think?
The Gardener always makes me so happy whenever I read it. An epistolary story told in short letters written by Lydia Grace, but with enough information to know what was included in the responses she received. What makes this an especially wonderful picture book, besides its feel good story, is the way the illustrations track the story so well even as they add dimension to it. Small's watercolors increase in color as Lydia Grace's plantings grow and bloom. But look closely at each illustration for little details that add to the story, like the little gray cat in every city picture, the first dollar Uncle Jim made framed under the picture of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, the envelopes full of seeds floating out of Lydia Grace's suitcase, and the changing look on faces of everyone as the flowers bloom, and the same scowl on Uncle Jim's face, no matter what is happening. No wonder David Small won the 1998 Caldecott Award. Lydia Grace spent one year in the city and really made a difference in the lives of Uncle Jim, Emma and Ed, and their customers and neighbors. What an inspiring story for young readers to enjoy!
When I got home, I pulled out my copy of The Gardener by Sarah Stewart and reread it with a great deal of pleasure. The story unfolds in a series of letters written by young Lydia Grace Finch, beginning in August 1935, when the depression was still impacting so many people in the world, including her family. Lydia Grace is leaving the country and going to live temporarily with her Uncle Jim in the city, and the first letter is addressed to him, in which she tells him three things about herself: 1- she knows a lot about gardening but not baking; 2- she would like to learn to bake, but is there any place to plant seeds?; 3- she likes to be called Lydia Grace. Packed in her suitcase, along with her clothes, are envelopes full of seeds, including marigold, cosmos, and my personal favorite zinnia. Uncle Jim is a baker, lives in an apartment over the bakery, and, Lydia Grace soon discovers, he never smiles.
In letters to her parents and her grandmother, Lydia Grace writes about everything that is going on with her in the city. In the bakery, she meets Emma and Ed Beech, Uncle Jim's friends who also work for him. Emma teaches Lydia Grace to knead bread and in exchange, she teaches Emma the Latin names of flowers. As the spring of 1936 approaches, Lydia Grace begins planting in cracked teacups, tubs, and boxes growing the seeds she brought with her and any that she is sent from home. Soon, she is growing flowers, lettuce, radishes, and onions in window boxes and on the fire escape, transforming their nondescript building into a bright, colorful, flourishing vertical garden.
But it is in the secret place (the unused roof) that Lydia Grace discovers where she really shows her gardening skills, creating a place of beauty in the midst of the city. She plants and tends her rooftop garden in secret, finally surprising Uncle Jim on the Fourth of July. But can she get to Uncle Jim to finally smile?
Maybe. A few days after the July 4th surprise, Uncle Jim has one of his own when he closes the bakery for half a day and surprises Lydia Grace with a beautiful cake covered in icing flowers. Lydia Grace is certain that cake is worth at least 1,000 smiles. What do you think?
The Gardener always makes me so happy whenever I read it. An epistolary story told in short letters written by Lydia Grace, but with enough information to know what was included in the responses she received. What makes this an especially wonderful picture book, besides its feel good story, is the way the illustrations track the story so well even as they add dimension to it. Small's watercolors increase in color as Lydia Grace's plantings grow and bloom. But look closely at each illustration for little details that add to the story, like the little gray cat in every city picture, the first dollar Uncle Jim made framed under the picture of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, the envelopes full of seeds floating out of Lydia Grace's suitcase, and the changing look on faces of everyone as the flowers bloom, and the same scowl on Uncle Jim's face, no matter what is happening. No wonder David Small won the 1998 Caldecott Award. Lydia Grace spent one year in the city and really made a difference in the lives of Uncle Jim, Emma and Ed, and their customers and neighbors. What an inspiring story for young readers to enjoy!
March 1, 2010
I hadn't realized that David Small won a Caldecott Honor in addition to his Caldecott Medal for So You Want to be President? I always love his illustrations, and The Gardener is no exception. As in all good picture books, the illustrations in this tell as much of the story as the text. Make sure you notice all of the illustrations, even those at the beginning and end that don't have accompanying text.
The story is told in letters written by Lydia Grace Finch to family members – first to her Uncle Jim who lives in the city, and then to her family at home detailing her experiences living in the city and working at her Uncle Jim's bakery. No matter what her circumstances, though, Lydia Grace is a gardener and brings color and life to her surroundings. This is an upbeat historical fiction story of one girl's experience during the Depression. My favorite line: "I truly believe that cake equals one thousand smiles."
The story is told in letters written by Lydia Grace Finch to family members – first to her Uncle Jim who lives in the city, and then to her family at home detailing her experiences living in the city and working at her Uncle Jim's bakery. No matter what her circumstances, though, Lydia Grace is a gardener and brings color and life to her surroundings. This is an upbeat historical fiction story of one girl's experience during the Depression. My favorite line: "I truly believe that cake equals one thousand smiles."
August 3, 2014
The Gardener is the story of Lydia Grace, a girl who leaves her parents and grandmother to go live with her uncle in the city and help in his bakery during the Great Depression. The story is told in Lydia Grace's letters to her uncle and to her family members, but it is also told quite eloquently in the illustrations (which helped earn the book a Caldecott honor medal). Lydia Grace learns to be a good baker, but her real love is gardening; she uses her talent with growing things to make the world and the people around her happier. A good book for theme, inference, and in writing for form. Also good for giving background on the time of the Great Depression
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