Good Morning, Garden

by Barbara Brenner

Overview

Good Morning, Garden is a tranquil greeting to a new day, and a celebration of all living things in a child's garden. The loosely rhyming, lilting text shows a child's joy in discovering chipmunks, ladybugs, butterflies, and blackberries. This gentle good-morning book is perfect for starting off the day in quiet, curious reverie. Stunning, intricate cut-paper illustrations throughout provide brilliant detail, perfectly capturing the wonder of a morning garden.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781559718882
Publisher:	Cooper Square Publishing Llc
Publication date:	05/01/2004
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	748,623
Product dimensions:	8.86(w) x 11.30(h) x 0.43(d)
Age Range:	3 - 5 Years

Editorial Reviews

Pleasantly off-kilter rhymes pair with intricately constructed sculpted paper scenes in this carefully crafted depiction of a girl's wide-eyed daybreak explorations. Ortakales (Carrot in My Pocket) imbues her full-bleed collages with convincing perspective and depth, using shadows and precise folds that make the flowers, insects and objects appear to lift off the page. Gently creased marble-like cutouts form a remarkably realistic rock stairway, and a leathery toad peeks from underneath an overturned flowerpot. Although the girl herself never quite comes to life, innumerable details in the landscapes await on each spread to delight readers' eyes. Brenner's (What the Elephant Told) rhymes often come unexpectedly, meandering like the girl's path around her garden: "Good morning,/ orange butterfly/ drinking dew./ Good morning, blue/ delphinium,/ purple phlox,/ pink hollyhocks." The book concludes by panning over the neighborhood as it awakens with an early morning jogger and skateboarder, as the girl and her mother kneel to tend to a patch of flowers. Ages 3-5. (May) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

K-Gr 3-A little girl steps inside her garden gate to welcome the arrival of a new day. Greeting flowers and animals, she skips and scampers about the heavenly place, depicted in hues that are fresh and vibrant. "Good morning, bee balm and bumblebees," she chants, and the alliterative tone and subtle rhyme scheme continue throughout this joyful celebration. Children already familiar with cherries and blackberries will take notice of the more unusual "-plants with funny names. Cow Vetch. Goat's Beard. Sneezeweed. Dogbane." Ortakales works with sculpted paper to convey the depth and detail of a garden replete with luscious plants and friendly creatures, both along the garden path and tucked into the underbrush. To usher in the new day and rejoice in nature's gifts, pair this with Chief Jake Swamp's Giving Thanks (Lee & Low, 1995). For a garden unit, plant it alongside Anita Lobel's Alison's Zinnia (Greenwillow, 1990) or Pat Schories's Over under in the Garden (Farrar, 1996; o.p.).-Gloria Koster, West School, New Canaan, CT Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

School Library Journal

Brilliant cut-paper collage and joyful rhyme make Brenner's latest a winner. In the opening spread, readers follow a girl beyond the garden gate. She appears close-up on the next page, eyes wide, as she stops to smell the flowers, deep purple cones dotted with tiny blossoms surrounded by lush green leaves. In the background, framed by an indigo field, the orange sun rises. Throughout, textured papers carefully cut and intricately arranged, create three-dimensional tableaus. Children will enjoy exploring the details-a mottled toad beneath a flower pot, a nesting bird, winged ladybugs-and hearing Brenner's text, full of fun words: "Good morning, blue / delphinium, / purple phlox, / pink hollyhocks." This is the anti-bedtime story, and a wonderful way to wake up. (Picture book. 3-5)

Kirkus Reviews