Reviews
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By Gerda Muller
Anna and Benjamin's family has just moved into their new house and even though it's in the middle of a busy town, it has a beautiful big garden for them all to enjoy.
Soon the family has made plans for their perfect garden -- Mum wants a lawn and a terrace, Dad wants to help the birds and insects, Benjamin wants to plant beautiful flowers and Anna wants to fill the garden with tasty vegetables.
Join Anna and Benjamin as, with a little help from their neighbour, they spend a year learning about all the wonderful things you can do in a garden: planting, harvesting, playing, enjoying picnics and spotting wildlife.
Alongside the charming story, A Year in Our New Garden also gives real gardening tips and provides recipes for tasty home-grown snacks to inspire children to get outdoors, be active and learn how nature changes around them throughout the year.
This beautifully detailed, seasonal story is a perfect companion to Gerda Muller's A Year Around the Great Oak and How Does My Garden Grow?
Recommended for 4 - 7 years old.
Hardcover, 36 pages. 306 x 232 mm. Colour illustrations throughout.
Floris Books, 2020.
'The combination of text and illustrations make this the kind of book you can keep coming back to. [...] There are some lovely examples to show children of how you can plan a plot to grow plants along with additional fact boxes and instructions to make things just like they have in the story. This is a lovely book to share with a class when doing a topic on seasons and growing plants.'
--School Library Association
'Simply stated, no school or community library collection for young readers will be complete without the inclusion of Gerda Muller's "A Year in Our New Garden".'
-- Midwest Book Review
'This is a really beautiful book.'
--Juno
'European picture books are so much richer and more complex than most American picture books, and this is no exception. There is much more text, but patient American children will be rewarded by a wonderful, layered experience as they go through this book. Gerda Muller's enchanting illustrations, filled with details, will keep little readers engaged as they experience what European children are lucky enough to find quite often.'
-- San Francisco Book Review
'Kids who pursue this gardening delight will need good reading skills - there's a good amount of text - or adult assistance, but the bright pages of gardening specifics and kid-oriented details on planting a garden shouldn't be missed.'
--Midwest Book Review
'This book not only provides a vivid reminder of the importance of growing our own crops, but it also includes detailed images and descriptions of the seasonal changes and some of the activities such as making an acorn necklace or freshly-squeezed lemonade in which the youngsters engage. I liked the simple fact that their new friend Louis, who is depicted in a wheelchair, has his own balcony garden as well. I also enjoyed the youngsters' enthusiastic embracing of their various gardening projects.'
--GoodReads, Barbara
'The beautifully detailed paintings invite close inspection as the seasons change. Helpful gardening tips, delicious recipes, and other related information accompany this tale and will surely inspire readers to create their own wonderful gardens. A fine companion to Muller's How Does My Garden Grow? and A Year Around the Great Oak, it continues her tradition of providing an engaging story that also seamlessly integrates facts about the natural world. VERDICT Both entertaining and useful, this book is recommended for every library.'
--School Library Journal
