My Baba’s Garden
by Jordan Scott; illus. by Sydney Smith
Preschool    Porter/Holiday    32 pp.
3/23    9780823450831    $18.99
e-book ed.  9780823455157    $11.99

This tender story from the ­author-artist team behind I Talk like a River (rev. 11/20) pays tribute to Scott’s Polish grandmother, whom he visited daily as a child. An opening note explains that she “s­uffered greatly” during World War II and, ­afterward, lived in a renovated ­chicken-coop in a ­Canadian coastal town. Baba, who “didn’t have very much food for a long, long time,” stockpiles items from her garden and closely watches her grandson eat lest he waste a bite. On the rainy walk to school, Baba looks for worms, collecting them in a jar, so that she can add them to the soil in her own garden. Her com­­­munication is limited to gesturing and, by tracing lines on the boy’s hand, she conveys the worms’ tremendous worth to the soil. Later, Baba moves in with the boy and his parents. In two moving, gently paced, wordless spreads, the boy brings Baba, lying in bed, a simple breakfast, and silently they eat together—before he heads out to find worms for some of Baba’s cherry tomato seeds he has planted in a pot. Smith’s observational prowess is a perfect match for this story of quiet, contemplative moments of profound meaning, his nuanced and expressive watercolors capturing years of struggle and sorrow on Baba’s face—but also the abundant love she feels for her grandson, who still now picks up worms in her honor.

From the March/April 2023 issue of The Horn Book Magazine.