The special relationship between a child and his grandmother is depicted in this sumptuous book by an award-winning team.
Inspired by memories of his childhood, Jordan Scott's My Baba’s Garden explores the sights, sounds, and smells experienced by a child spending time with their beloved grandmother (Baba), with special attention to the time they spent helping her tend her garden, searching for worms to keep it healthy. He visits her every day and finds her hidden in the steam of boiling potatoes, a hand holding a beet, a leg opening a cupboard, an elbow closing the fridge, humming like a night full of bugs when she cooks.
Poet Jordan Scott and illustrator Sydney Smith’s previous collaboration, I Talk Like a River, which received a Boston Globe-Horn Book Award expored a cherished memory shared between a father and son. In their new book, they turn that same wistful appreciation to the bond between a boy and his grandmother. Sydney Smith’s illustrations capture the sensational impressions of a child’s memory with iconic effect.
“My Baba.” Full-color watercolor and gouache illustrations.
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School Library Journal
K-Gr 4-From the brilliant pair that created I Talk Like a River comes a beautiful tale of family and the love shared between a child and grandparent. A young boy is lucky enough to spend time with Baba, his Polish grandmother, every day before and after school. While they do not share much in the way of a spoken language, they have an understanding and bond that goes much deeper. Baba has taught the young child to appreciate food, gardens, and the unique gift of worms. Knowing that Baba suffered much in Poland before coming to British Columbia, her grandson absorbs her lessons, and when she comes to live in his house, he carries on her wisdom when roles are reversed. Gorgeous illustrations brim with emotional use of dappled light and color; wordless passages evoke the emotional ties and trust between these two characters. This is outstanding storytelling in a marvelous picture book that deserves a place in all collections. VERDICT This intergenerational story will provide young people with an opportunity to share those special bonds they have with an older person and hopefully encourage them to reflect on the simple acts that connect one generation to the next.-John Scott?(c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.