At the opening of this inviting, oversize picture-book tribute to the ecosystem known as a garden, Mrs. McGee and her stroller-bound companion happen upon a beautifully blooming flower and vegetable garden. The woman wonders whose green thumb can claim ownership of the patch before her. A busy and rather gruff man weeding the gated plot informs her that he is the sole owner: "It's clear as can be!/ The garden you see belongs only to me!/ .../ No one can come here without my permission." But Mrs. McGee soon learns that the human gardener is just the tip of the iceberg lettuce. In quick succession a rabbit, woodchuck, bird, worm and various insects as well as the soil, sun and the rain emerge to explain their rightfully important roles in making the garden grow. Hoberman (The Seven Silly Eaters) succeeds in cleverly weaving together a simple story line and numerous facts about animal behavior and the life cycles of a garden within bouncy, rhyming verse, and she ends by letting the audience answer the unexpectedly thorny title question. Dyer's (Time for Bed) soft watercolors depict a rainbow of accurately drawn flowers and vegetables alongside nattily dressed wildlife (even the earthworm sports a chapeau) and a sun sporting sunglasses. In her experienced hands, the results look more edifying than sentimental-akin to a naturalist's notebook mixed with cheery anthropomorphic touches. Ages 3-7. (May) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

PreS-Gr. 1. Out for a stroll with a young child, silver-haired Mrs. McGee sees a glorious profusion of vegetables and flowers. Her question, Whose garden is it? launches this rhyming romp, which touches on the intricate relationships between animals and plants, sun, soil, and water. After a gardener proudly claims his plot, a rabbit steps forward, followed by other creatures that each claim garden ownership in a territorial battle that doesn't end with the animals: I blossom in season / If this is a garden, then I am the reason, says a plant. Even the rain and the sun state their importance. Each speaker is so convincing that in the end, Mrs. McGee repeats her initial question, confused as ever. Although the singsong bounciness of the rhymed couplets and a few images of overdressed animals may strike some as cloying, Hoberman's creative words and upbeat rhythms cheerfully introduce some basic players in the garden web of life, and Dyer's sunny watercolors of a magnificent garden are radiant and inviting. --Gillian Engberg Copyright 2004 Booklist

After a woman asks who owns a resplendent garden, a gardener says that it's his, only to be informed by a rabbit that it's his, and so on until even a seed has pled its case. The titular question has potential, but the claim staking grows monotonous, and some illustrations, such as one of a bunny in ballerina attire, are too cute for comfort. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.

PreS-Gr 3-As she pushes her toddler past a lush spring garden, Mrs. McGee exclaims, "How splendid!/How pleasant!/How simply exquisite!/This garden is perfect--/But whose garden is it?" This seemingly straightforward question turns out to have quite a complicated answer. While the gardener is first to claim it as his own, a rabbit, a woodchuck, and quick succession of other garden inhabitants all insist that it is theirs. "It is mine the plant rustled/I blossom in season./This is a garden,/And I am the reason." Even the sun, the rain, and a tiny seed make claims. "It is mine the seed whispered/Although I am small/I am the beginning/The start of it all." While viewers may never get a definitive answer to Mrs. McGee's innocent question, they will certainly learn about life in a garden and what each living thing contributes to help it flourish. This iconographic presentation of Mary Ann Hoberman's rhyming picture book (Gulliver Books, 2004) is narrated by the author. The sunny watercolors by Jane Dyer are both pleasing and whimsical. The rabbit sports a purple blazer, a red vest, and a polka-dotted tie; other creatures wear top hats, a beret, an aproned dress, overalls, sunglasses, a baseball cap, a crown, or a bandana. The plant, weed, soil, tree, and sun all have human faces as they state their cases. Lively western music plays in the background of this visual celebration of garden life and fascinating introduction to spring units.-Barbara Auerbach, New York City Public Schools (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.