This book tells the story of a urban neighborhood starting their very own garden. A young girl named Marisol wishes to help however all of the space is already taken. So she finds a single seed and plants it in a small crack along the edge of the garden. Marisol takes very good care of her seed and it eventually grows into a ginormous and bright sunflower. The whole neighborhood is amazed and brought to life by the beautiful sunflower. Eventually the sunflower begins to die and Marisol has to learn to cope with this sadness. Then one day Marisol is walking down the street and she is surprised by a huge mural of bright sunflowers painted by the neighborhood. I feel this book contained a great deal of important lessons and topics for young students to read. Overall I think this would be a great book to read to a classroom. ( )

This was such a sweet story. The illustrations are vivid and the idea of a garden in an urban settling is quite refreshing. There are lovely images of New York with realistic graffiti, store fronts, and yellow taxis. It was realistic that Marisol became upset when winter came and her flower died. She seemed to learn a life lesson that seasons change and things don't stay the same forever. I would highly recommend this book for both the context and illustrations. ( )

some Spanish words, discusses the story of a community coming together to make a special garden for the people in the community to enjoy. discusses the different aspects of the garden and how everyone worked together.
1 book

This picture book was a great story showing the interactions of a tightly knit community and how one small act can inspire many. In the story it features a young girl named Marisol who wants a space in the community garden to plant something. When she arrives she notices that all the land has been claimed expect for one piece that she designates for herself. Eventually she plants a flower that blooms bright and becomes inspiration to the neighborhood. I enjoyed this book because of the illustrations done by Barbara Lambase. The book is slightly older than most of the books I have reviewed but the story and illustrations are just as contemporary as any other book. The use of color was the deciding factor when I went searching for a book to review. There are a lot of reds and yellows used throughout the illustrations with beautiful paint strokes.
Another great element that I enjoyed about this book is the mixture of different culture and languages used throughout the story. The main character is Latin-American. Throughout the story the author goes in between English and Spanish. Simple vocabulary like grande, and nina are spoken by the Spanish speaking characters. There are other cultures represented such as Mr. Singh who mentions his plant valore is a bean from Bangladesh, and Ms. Washington who is African-American and mentions southern dishes such as black-eyed peas, greens and sweet potatoes.

Lesson: How Do We Get Along in School?