My Love for You Is Like a Garden

by Laura Smetana

Overview

A Kirkus Reviews Best Book of 2023!

With bright, watercolor collages, My Love for You Is Like a Garden celebrates unconditional love with vibrant garden scenes that will delight fans of Lois Ehlert and Eric Carle.

Say "I love you" with this charming picture book families will love reading together over and over again. Bold, colorful illustrations of flowers, butterflies, and animals will inspire readers of all ages to explore the natural world⁠-and maybe even plant their own garden. Children will delight in finding ladybugs hidden throughout, and a glossary provides the names of each plant and animal featured.

A beautiful book to share with a child, parent, or anyone who means the world to you!

"Endearing, engaging text pairs well with gorgeously executed illustrations for a joyful read." -Kirkus Reviews, (starred review)

Ideal for so many occasions:

• Bedtime read-alouds
• Valentine's Day, Easter basket or holiday stocking stuffer
• Mother's Day, or Father's Day gifts
• Baby shower gift for new parents
• Teachers and librarians looking for a garden-themed book
• Birthdays and more!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781737140979
Publisher:	Flying Cardinal Press
Publication date:	03/01/2023
Pages:	38
Sales rank:	862,124
Product dimensions:	8.50(w) x 11.00(h) x 0.10(d)
Age Range:	Up to 5 Years

About the Author

Laura Smetana is an award-winning author and illustrator. Her latest author-illustrated book, My Love for You Is Like a Garden, is a joyful celebration of unconditional love with bold, watercolor collages of garden scenes and was named a Kirkus Reviews Best Book of 2023. She is also the author of Ice Cream with Grandpa: A Loving Story for Kids About Alzheimer's & Dementia, (illustrated by Elisabete B. P. de Moraes), which was winner of a Northern Lights Book Award, and Little Squiggle's Lake Adventure, which she co-authored with her son. When she isn't writing or painting, Laura can be found talking to kids at school author visits, gardening in her sunhat, and spending time with her family outdoors. Laura lives in the Chicago suburbs with her husband and son. She is a member of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators and the Downers Grove Artists' Guild. You can visit her at www.laurasmetana.com.

Editorial Reviews

A Kirkus Reviews Best Book of 2023

A 2023 Northern Lights Book Awards Winner

"Smetana's picture book compares feelings of love to different elements of a garden... The lines are brief but powerful and sweet, concluding with an image of two hands with different brown skin tones on either side of a bouquet, incorporating all the flowers featured in the book. However, Smetana's illustrations are truly the stars of this work... The book ends with a glossary, naming various plants and animals in the book and encouraging young readers to go back and look for them all-something that they'll surely delight in doing again and again. Endearing, engaging text pairs well with gorgeously executed illustrations for a joyful read." -Kirkus Reviews, (starred review)

From the Publisher

★ 2023-01-04
Smetana’s picture book compares feelings of love to different elements of a garden.

Opening with its title, this work uses simple nonrhyming sentences to describe love, using various metaphors that encourage youngsters to engage all their senses. Love is said to be as “tender as a blade of grass,” “sweet as a flowering lilac,” “cheerful as the robin’s song,” and so on. The lines are brief but powerful and sweet, concluding with an image of two hands with different brown skin tones on either side of a bouquet, incorporating all the flowers featured in the book. However, Smetana’s illustrations are truly the stars of this work. At first glance, they appear to be vibrant watercolors on paper, but closer inspection reveals each image to be a carefully trimmed and assembled collage featuring butterflies, flowers, trees, and other elements. The cut paper is arranged in ingenious ways to suggest, for example, the opened petals of a rose or furrowed soil with marigolds growing in it. The book ends with a glossary, naming various plants and animals in the book and encouraging young readers to go back and look for them all—something that they’ll surely delight in doing again and again.

Endearing, engaging text pairs well with gorgeously executed illustrations for a joyful read.

Kirkus Reviews