The Garden We Share

Connection blooms between a child and elderly companion during a spring and summer spent tending to potted vegetables and flowers planted in a space between brick buildings. Beginning with seeds (“each little dot full of hope and promise”) the tan-skinned pair wait for shoots to emerge and “whisper stories to each one.” The book quickly pivots to a bountiful harvest shared with neighbors of varying ages and skin tones. As the duo companionably save seeds, the older companion works from bed, briefly and suddenly foreshadowing emotional concluding scenes that extend the book’s theme of seasonality as well as life and death. Tucker’s lyrical prose emphasizes sensory experience (“We lie on a blanket in the grass and/ listen to the gentle hum of the honeybee”), while delicate accompanying illustrations by Swaney are washed with sage green and accented by rust oranges and warm harvest reds. Ages 4–8. (Mar.)