With tears in my eyes, I write. Reluctant to stay with her Nana, she soon realizes how special her Nana really is. As the little girl spends time with her Nana in her garden, she begins to understand that the overgrown garden is actually an exceptional place. A place where Nana lets things happen. Where the wildflowers grow for the insects and the critters can run freely, where the apple tree brings forth fruit for harvesting, and that old tree is called home to some animal friends. The garden is also a special place where Nana and the little girl can spend some quality time together, enjoying each other’s company while appreciating the world around them. It isn’t long before she starts to enjoy visiting her Nana and tending to the garden space alongside her.
The book progresses quickly and Nana has moved into a wheelchair. It is my assumption that this little girl is her granddaughter and she has also grown up quickly. The daughter now accompanies her granddaughter on the visits to Nana’s. The three of them now visit the garden together, relaxing and enjoying each other’s company.
“In my nana’s garden,
I curl up and cry.
The sun doesn’t shine
in the winter sky.”
The tone of the book changes after this quote and my mood does also for, I feel that life has changed for this family. The garden is cold and bare all winter long as the granddaughter looks out the window remembering her Nana. Come spring, the daughter and granddaughter get to work in Nana’s garden tending to it, just like Nana did. The garden springs to life and there is energy within the book again. The daughter is changing too and as I flip the page, there are now 3 individuals surrounding the tree in Nana’s garden, “We think of Nana by the trees.”
What a sweet book. I loved looking at the illustrations and seeing how they changed without any mention of it in the text. I felt the author did an excellent job addressing the relationship of the little girl and her Nana, Nana’s passing, and how they honored Nana by caring for her garden. With a rhyming text, the words did not feel forced but were smooth and flowing. This Nana truly enjoyed this book. 5 stars
One Chapter 