The difficulty that at times arises with digital reading is how well this reflects the intended experience. Hornberg’s opening is a lovely hand-written invitation into the world of gardening made tricky by the size of various screens. Unfortunately this doesn’t improve as the book progresses. Its pages often instead growing more crowded with illustrations and explanations.

I thought the illustrations were charming and playful. The birds in their air balloon exporting seeds, for one. I enjoyed the circus page where the animals were named after plants and found that to be engaging. The plants themselves are drawn very well and I wasn’t left wanting or unsure of what was being discussed.

From presenting information about pine cones in the guise of a pirate guide, Picture A Garden does convey its wealth of knowledge in fun ways. But it does sometimes stray out of its realm of knowledge to do so. The pot shot at historical hygiene practices is pure stereotype and the dress historian in me finds that frustrating. 

Thanks to iRead Book Tours and Linda Hornberg for the review copy. I leave this review voluntarily.