Cute and wholesome book about community :)

A perfect book

It's been a while since I read a book, start to finish, all in one sitting. That's not a marathon boast for this slim volume, which took less than two hours. But it is remarkable that I spent a good amount of that time crying. I will not fail to recommend this book to anyone again, now that I have discovered it. It is especially good for reluctant readers or adult learners, with its short character vignettes and down-to-earth language in district voices. The stories of the characters are small, but hint at worlds of experience that are so very important. This book speaks to the heart of human experience. Once you read these fictional accounts of immigrants, urban youth, and those who've aged through the generations of a city, you will look closer at your neighbors and I hope you wonder what their stories are.

Es una tierna historia sobre la diversidad y la importancia de la comunidad.
Aunque por la portada no parece, hay representación afrodescendiente en los personajes en gran parte de la historia, además de personajes provenientes de diversos países.
Fue entretenido de leer, bastante amigable y tierno.
Me gusta pensar que ese jardín existe en algún lugar del mundo

This was a cute but VERY simple story. I liked how each chapter was from a different person's perspective, however some stories were very undeveloped and unnecessary to the story. The book was VERY short and really could have gone deeper. There were some great analogies and metaphors which made teaching the book nice.

To me, this book is simple and beautiful.

It's written in stereotypes and while that could have gone awry, it didn't. I feel as though a hatred of stereotypes has been drilled into me and I sometimes forget they exist for a reason. Several reasons. Sometimes not good reasons but sometimes, they illustrate an idea or a philosophy that would take too long to explain otherwise.

In the case of the audiobook, the stereotypes are not just the people in print - the old white woman, the sassy black woman, the retired Jewish man, the Haitian taxi cab driver, the pregnant Mexican teenager, and so on - but their voices, too. Like, actual voices complete with accents. And each represents a set of people you find in cities or in countries or in life.

These people who lived so apart are brought together via a garden started by a Vietnamese girl with a few lima beans in an abandoned lot. As it grows, both the plants and the size and shape, it becomes representative of the sense of community we would like to see, that we would like to impart upon children so that they may grow up without suspicion of those who don't look like them.
But it's not gentle. It's not all about harmony and perfection and neighborliness. There are gangs that keep old men indoors. There are people who steal tomatoes and dump tires, killing plants. This is aimed at younger readers so there's no graphic violence, no over-the-top...well anything, really. But one kid wants to grow weed among the weeds and there are three pregnant girls tending plants and separatism happens, even in the garden. Things aren't discussed in whispers to protect young minds.

This is wish fulfillment at its loveliest. I want to live in a neighborhood like this, not the part where everyone is alone and afraid but the part where everyone has something meaningful and positive to bring them together, to create a community based on their one powerful commonality.

I would love to see this book in more classrooms as a vehicle for discussion both on transforming urban spaces into useful places as well as learning to get along with the people in your neighborhood.

Very short, sweet book.

I can’t wait to read this with my students.
And I can’t wait to plant my garden.

Themes: Neighborhoods, generations, city life, gardening, culture, differences, community, and hope.

This book can connect to a wide range of students and start discussions on challenging stereotypes and improving your own community. The language is easy enough for younger readers to tackle.