GRANDMOTHER'S GARDEN
by John Archambault & illustrated by Raúl Colón
Grandmother's Garden ($13.95; PLB $15.95; book & cassette $19.95; Aug. 1996; 32 pp.; 0-382-39653-7; PLB 0-382-39652-9; book & cassette 0-382-39664-2): In an extended poetic metaphor, Archambault (The Birth of the Whale, p. 222, etc.) compares the earth to Grandmother Rose's garden, where all flowers grow together. ``Different colors, different faces, different names/Underneath our skin, we are all the same./We are flowering faces reaching for the sun./In Grandmother's garden, we are all one./In Grandmother's garden, we are all one.'' These words seem to belong to a song, and here are sunnily set to Col¢n's illustrations, created in his now-trademark style. Soft-hued, rainbow-colored scenes have been given a texture like scratched-out fingerprints. Sculpted, ethnically diverse boys and girls are pictured working in a flower garden, bathed in sunlight. A warm, optimistic work. (Picture book. 4-8)