In a Garden by Tim McCanna (review)

Rhyming text walks viewers through a year in the life of a community garden in this celebration of the flora and fauna that inhabit it. Spring sees the arrival of birds and the digging of worms, and "Then at last/ a tiny shoot/ ever slowly/ forms a root.// First a seedling/ then a sprout/ pushing/ bursting/ up and out." Tulips bloom in a riot of color as various insects busy themselves ("Earwigs scuttle./ Beetles scurry./ Roly-polies/ scoot and worry") in and around the soil. Frogs and ladybugs take shelter during a rainfall, and a summer night brings out the fireflies, much to the delight of the garden's kid visitors. Autumn comes "as a cool and gentle breeze/ whispers through the tops of trees," and snow soon covers the ground, but the book comes full circle as "Time goes by/ and by/ and then … / life returns to start again." McCanna's text is smooth and its cadence lively, and it carries both a general awe at the wonders of nature and a specificity in its observations, listing off various types of flowers ("Daisy, foxglove,/ tulip, plum,/ daffodil,/ chrysanthemum") and bugs ("Lacewings, gnats,/ mosquitoes, spiders,/ dragonflies, and water striders"). It's Sicuro's art that really makes the book blossom, though, with lush watercolor and charcoals bringing earthy textures and vibrant colors, and compositions moving deftly from close-ups on marching ants and lettuce beds to sweeping scenes of blowing leaves and hushed nightfall. An endnote provides a brief, accessible explanation of the workings of a garden, making this a seasonal sell to both budding poets and naturalists.