As a garden takes root, so does a community. Vincent is staying with his aunt Mimi for the summer while his mom recuperates from surgery. Mimi's drab city neighbourhood, complete with an empty dirt lot across the street, doesn't seem too promising. But then Vincent meets Toma, a boy who lives nearby, and things start looking up. Mimi has a mysterious box of 'dirt balls' in her apartment. When she asks Vincent to get rid of them, the fun Vincent and Toma have throwing them into the lot becomes the start of a budding friendship. Then one day, they notice new shoots sprouting all over the lot. Maybe those balls weren't just made of dirt after all! Bestselling author Andrew Larsen brings a light touch and gentle humour to this picture book story about several kinds of growth - of the boys and their friendship, the flowers in the newly thriving lot, and the community that comes together around it. Award-winning artist Anne Villeneuve's illustrations add a visual layer to the storytelling as they show the transformation from mostly gray to vibrant color, both literally, in the blossoming garden, and figuratively, in the now engaged neighborhood. This book highlights the value of connecting to nature, even in urban areas, and the sense of community that comes from civic engagement. It's an excellent choice for character education lessons on kindness, generosity and citizenship. AGES: 3 to 7 AUTHOR: Andrew Larsen is the acclaimed author of such books as Goodnight, Hockey Fans, A Squiggly Story, The Not-So-Faraway Adventure, In the Tree House and The Imaginary Garden. He lives in Toronto, Ontario. Anne Villeneuve has written and illustrated close to 40 books, created games for magazines, illustrated for newspapers and designed cake boxes for a bakery. Over the years, her work has earned her many distinguished recognitions, such as the Governor General's Literary Award and the Quebec/Wallonie-Bruxelles Literary Award in 2000, the TD Canadian Children's Literature Award in 2005 and 2009, and the Mr. Christie's Book Award in 1998.
The illustrations in this book are lovely. The white/black/gray of everything except what is near Vincent, or the people he cares about, really emphasizes how gloomy and lonely he feels in the city with his Aunt Mimi. Soon he meets Toma, and the very first day they play together they take some odd "dirt balls" that Vincent's Aunt Mimi asked them to get rid of, and toss them over the wall into a vacant lot. From then on the boys are fast friends, and the weeks speed by. Then one day, their neighbor notices something in the vacant lot...their dirt balls are growing!
Children will enjoy this book for the developing friendships, and it's a lovely way to bring a little plant life into the city.
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25 March, 2019:
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