Jayden and a new friend bring nature to the city in this timeless story about a community garden. Amidst all the buildings, people, and traffic in his neighborhood, Jayden sees nature everywhere: the squirrels scrounging, the cardinals calling, and the dandelions growing. But Mama doesn’t believe there’s nature in the city. So Jayden sets out to help Mama see what he sees. With the help of his friend Mr. Curtis, Jayden plants the seeds of a community garden and brings together his neighbors—and Mama—to show them the magic of nature in the middle of the city. Timeless and vibrant, this story highlights the beauty of intergenerational relationships and the power of imagination and perseverance in bringing the vision of a community garden to life. Jayden’s love of nature will inspire readers to see their environment and surroundings as bursting with opportunities for growth and connection. At the back of the book, readers will find activities to make items found in the book, such as the milk jug bird feeder (Source).

Author(s): Sandra Neil Wallace & Rebecca Gibbon

Since breaking a gender barrier in sports as the first woman to anchor an NHL broadcast on national TV, Sandra Neil Wallace has been writing stories about people who break barriers and change the world. She is the author of the Orbis Pictus Award-winning book Between the Lines: How Ernie Barnes Went from the Football Field to the Art Gallery, illustrated by Bryan Collier, which earned 4 starred reviews and co-author of the Orbis Pictus Honor book The Teachers March!, which also earned 4 starred reviews. Her young adult nonfiction title, Blood Brother, won The International Literacy Association’s Social Justice Award and was a YALSA Award Nominee for Excellence in Nonfiction. The daughter of a Yugoslavian refugee, Sandra lives in New Hampshire where she continues to break barriers and create change as co-founder of The Daily Good (Source).

Illustrator, Rebecca Gibbon was born in Wales in 1968. The youngest of four children she was fed on a diet of picture books by Edward Ardizzone, Roger Duvoisin & Richard Scarry; she dreamt of being an illustrator. Her favourite book was “Frances Face-Maker” by Tomi Ungerer. Her ambition was realised after gaining a first class Honours degree from John Moores University and consequently a Masters at Royal College of Art, London. While at the RCA she was spotted at a childrens book expo in Paris by a french Agent. Since graduating she has worked all over the globe and has illustrated over 10 Children’s Books. Rebecca paints in watercolour ink & coloured pencil, and bases her characters on the people she has met and seen over the years. She used to paint on newsprint until one day she looked back at some old work and it had all faded. Lesson learnt, she now works on acid free cartridge paper. She lives with her husband and two boys in what was once the Old Village Stores, surrounded by their eclectic collections of vintage childrens books, balloon pumps & 1950’s ceramics. She loves junk shops, flea markets, drinking tea & of course drawing (Source).