When Ruby Tried to Grow Candy (review)

When Ruby accidentally tosses her ball over the fence and into the neighbor's yard, she's nervous about retrieving it, because she's afraid of the mysterious lady next door. Once over the fence, she discovers that her neighbor is even stranger than she had thought: Miss Wysterious has a lush and enchanting garden that grows teacups, playing cards, shoes, buttons, and other gloriously improbable produce. Miss W. sets Ruby up with a garden of her own, wherein the candy-restricted girl sows a clutch of sweets in eager anticipation of a delicious crop of butterscotch, toffees, and lemon sours. Though there are some entertaining turns of phrase ("And in the blink of an eye, Ruby Louise Hawthorn had tossed herself into quite a pickle"), the story lacks focus and, occasionally, logic (when did Ruby retrieve the ball that presumably grew the concluding ball tree?), resulting in a narrative that seems basically shimmed into place to support the central concept and art. Fisher's photographic visuals are, as usual, arresting, photographed mixtures of realia and designerly drawn elements cut out and arranged. The cheery, elaborate garden scenes have the sweet vigor of mid-mod kitchen design, and they gain additional allure from being jam-packed with whimsical inclusions, with the blurring of the background components suggesting endless depths in this botanical fantasy. The enticing idea and visuals will be enough to draw many youngsters, who will simply enjoy poring over the pages of the fanciful gardens.