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The Surprise Garden
by Zoe Hall
(Check Catalog)

In simple language and vibrant, full-color cut-paper collages, three children celebrate the delights of planting a garden in the spring, then watching with joyful anticipation what grows from each seed, from green beans to yellow squash to red carrots.

After sowing unmarked seeds, three youngsters wait expectantly for their garden to grow

SLJ Reviews 1998 March (SL8C)

Three children are given various seeds for a surprise garden. They plant them, and mark each seed's place with a different color stick. They water and wait, and voila! in due time, there is a beautiful garden full of peas, beans, squash, spinach, lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, radishes, watermelon, and a sunflower. The colorful collages are pleasing and lively. The last page identifies all of the seeds. The problem with this pretty book is that its readers and listeners are in danger of believing that this could really happen. This is a fantasy garden, complete with a bunny who takes only a small bite of lettuce. Seeds of every kind sprout and grow into lush plants, and everything from carrots to watermelon is perfectly spaced. The dust jacket expresses hope that this book "will encourage children to grow surprise gardens of their very own." If it were used as the beginning of a realistic conversation, it would be fun to read. Copyright 1998 School Library Journal