In the Garden

Andrew Vaisius is a Winnipeg day-care director.

In the Garden begins as a simple and endearing story of a 10-year-old
girl and the gift her grandmother left her when she died. More than
halfway through, the story takes an extraordinary turn, thus dissipating
the strength it was building.

Grandma leaves Joyce seeds in an embroidered handkerchief. Despite the
odds, Joyce grows a wonderful urban garden with the seeds, but in a
strange happenstance she becomes the darling of her father’s picket
line when the soup made from the vegetables she grew is distributed
among the workers, who have run out of strike funds.

If you’re looking for a story to introduce 3- to 4-year-olds to the
labor–management dichotomy or the psychological impact of scarcity
economics, here it is. This reviewer would trade the last third of the
text for a more “frivolous” ending, such as having Joyce save some
seeds after the harvest to plant next year, thereby retaining an organic
link to her dead grandmother. However, readers will savor the artwork,
with its earthy textures and colors—a veritable garden for the eye.
Not a first-choice purchase.