The Gardener
Written by Sarah Stewart, illustrated by David Small
Lydia Grace Finch brings a suitcase full of seeds, plenty of stationery, and a passion for gardening to the big gray city, where she goes to stay with her Uncle Jim, a cantankerous baker. There she initiates a gradual transformation, brightening the bakery and bringing smiles to customers’ faces with the flowers she grows. But it is in a secret place that Lydia Grace works on her masterpiece, which she hopes will be powerful enough to make even Uncle Jim smile.
“David Small and Sarah Stewart have constructed a moving, wonderfully rich illustrated story.”
Edward Koren
New York Times Book Review
Caldecott Honor Book for 1998
Christopher Award
ABBY Award Honor Book, 1997
American Library Association Notable Children’s Book for 1997
Publishers Weekly, Cuffies, tie for first place for picture book
Friends of American Writers (Chicago), First Place Juvenile Literary Award, 1997
Farrar Straus Giroux
ISBN 0-374-32517-0 (hardcover)
ISBN 0-374-34388-8 (paperback)