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OVER IN THE GARDEN

Name: OVER IN THE GARDEN
Author: Janna Matthies
ISBN: 9780593809365

by Janna Matthies ; illustrated by Tisha Lee ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 18, 2025

A garden of utter delights.

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Rhyme and rhythm are in full blossom.

Featuring rollicking, tightly constructed rhymes, this variation on the classic counting song “Over in the Meadow” follows a busy group of racially diverse young gardeners who care for a community garden. Youngsters will love chanting along with the delicious verses. As they do so, they’ll practice counting skills, gain an appreciation for rhyme and rhythm, and learn about the different chores involved in creating and maintaining a proper garden (and about the equipment gardeners use). Kids will be charmed by the animal pals who join in the fun. At one point, the young workers must pause—but only temporarily—as a sudden rainstorm sets in: “Over in the garden, / in a shelter of pine, / hid the damp little gardeners / in a huddle of NINE. 'Rain,' sang the gardeners, / 'Spring rain!' sang all NINE. / And they danced and they pranced / in a shelter of pine.” The final scenes reveal that these caretakers have worked hard to produce a wonderland of plantings and colors. Number words throughout are set in boldfaced black capital letters. The illustrations burst with both vegetation and with bright hues and dynamic activity.

A garden of utter delights. (Picture book. 3-6)

Pub Date: March 18, 2025

ISBN: 9780593809365

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Doubleday

Review Posted Online: Nov. 9, 2024

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2024

Categories:

CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS | CHILDREN'S SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

- BOOK REVIEW
MY TOWERING TREE
by Janna Matthies ; illustrated by Ashley Wolff

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TWO IS ENOUGH
by Janna Matthies ; illustrated by Tuesday Mourning

- BOOK REVIEW
THE GOODBYE CANCER GARDEN
by Janna Matthies and illustrated by Kristi Valiant

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DIGGERSAURS

by Michael Whaite ; illustrated by Michael Whaite ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 2, 2019

Count on construction die-hards falling in love, but discerning readers would be wise to look elsewhere for their...

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Less ambitious than Chris Gall’s widely known Dinotrux (2009) and sequels, this British import systematically relegates each dinosaur/construction-equipment hybrid to its most logical job.

The title figures are introduced as bigger than both diggers and dinosaurs, and rhyming text and two construction-helmeted kids show just what these creatures are capable of. Each diggersaur has a specific job to do and a distinct sound effect. The dozersaurus moves rocks with a “SCRAAAAPE!!!” while the rollersaurus flattens lumps with a cheery “TOOT TOOT!!” Each diggersaur is numbered, with 12 in all, allowing this to be a counting book on the sly. As the diggersaurs (not all of which dig) perform jobs that regular construction equipment can do, albeit on a larger scale, there is no particular reason why any of them should have dinosaurlike looks other than just ’cause. Peppy computer art tries valiantly to attract attention away from the singularly unoriginal text. “Diggersaurs dig with bites so BIG, / each SCOOP creates a crater. // They’re TOUGH and STRONG / with necks so long— / they’re super EXCAVATORS!” Far more interesting are the two human characters, a white girl and a black boy, that flit about the pictures offering commentary and action. Much of the fun of the book can be found in trying to spot them on every two-page spread.

Count on construction die-hards falling in love, but discerning readers would be wise to look elsewhere for their dino/construction kicks. (Picture book. 3-6)

Pub Date: April 2, 2019

ISBN: 978-1-9848-4779-9

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Random House

Review Posted Online: Jan. 14, 2019

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2019

Categories:

CHILDREN'S DINOSAURS & PREHISTORIC CREATURES | CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS | CHILDREN'S TRANSPORTATION

- BOOK REVIEW
DIGGERSAURS MISSION TO MARS
by Michael Whaite ; illustrated by Michael Whaite

- BOOK REVIEW
DIGGERSAURS EXPLORE
by Michael Whaite ; illustrated by Michael Whaite

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HAPPY EASTER FROM THE CRAYONS

by Drew Daywalt ; illustrated by Oliver Jeffers ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 7, 2023

Let these crayons go back into their box.

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The Crayons return to celebrate Easter.

Six crayons (Red, Orange, Yellow, Esteban, who is green and wears a yellow cape, White, and Blue) each take a shape and scribble designs on it. Purple, perplexed and almost angry, keeps asking why no one is creating an egg, but the six friends have a great idea. They take the circle decorated with red shapes, the square adorned with orange squiggles “the color of the sun,” the triangle with yellow designs, also “the color of the sun” (a bit repetitious), a rectangle with green wavy lines, a white star, about which Purple remarks: “DID you even color it?” and a rhombus covered with blue markings and slap the shapes onto a big, light-brown egg. Then the conversation turns to hiding the large object in plain sight. The joke doesn’t really work, the shapes are not clear enough for a concept book, and though colors are delineated, it’s not a very original color book. There’s a bit of clever repartee. When Purple observe that Esteban’s green rectangle isn’t an egg, Esteban responds, “No, but MY GOSH LOOK how magnificent it is!” Still, that won’t save this lackluster book, which barely scratches the surface of Easter, whether secular or religious. The multimedia illustrations, done in the same style as the other series entries, are always fun, but perhaps it’s time to retire these anthropomorphic coloring implements. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

Let these crayons go back into their box. (Picture book. 3-5)