A gentle board book follows two toddlers through a busy day in a backyard garden. Two unnamed tots stretch and yawn to greet the sunshine and sunflowers outside the bedroom window. These siblings are light-skinned with curly brown hair while their mother is brown-skinned and their bearded father is even paler than the children. The focus throughout is on the natural wonders this interracial family discovers while tending their garden. Detailed drawings add information. The second spread shows a belowground cross section with ant tunnels and dandelion roots--and one child's bare feet above. Six four-line stanzas use an abcb rhyme scheme. Rhyming fly with high and seed with weed works nicely, but pea and leaf is a bit of a stretch. What is clear is these big-eyed children's sense of wonder. They willingly "crunch a green bean. / Snap a pea" and even "pluck some kale." There is whimsy too. A snail almost as big as one of the children also nibbles on the kale, and a mouse chomping a strawberry underground is not bothered by the earthworms that share the soil with carrots. The story ends as it began, with the two children tucked into beds, just like the fruits and vegetables. "Sun sets. / Flowers close tired eyes. // Young plants rest. / Growing tomorrow's surprise." Just right for little gardeners. (Board book. 1-4) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

In this spare board book, two doe-eyed children with light brown skin and curly dark hair spend a sunny day in their backyard garden. Their two guardians, one with dark brown skin and black curls and the other pale with a light beard, look on in the background, lending a hand or providing a sun hat as the young duo harvests and samples produce ("Crunch a green bean./ Snap a pea") as well as assists with gardening duties ("Pick a berry./ Pull a weed"). Gently rhyming prose by Pryor emphasizes the children's physical experiences and observations throughout the day ("Cater- pillars wiggle./ Butterflies fly./ Bees kiss daisies./ Sunflowers reach high"), while Soini's watercolor illustrations offer rich greenery, cutaway side views of the ground featuring root systems, and close-ups of smiling insects and creatures. A garden journey to engage the senses, ideal for the youngest readers. Ages up to 6. (May)