The Patchwork Garden; Pedacitos de huerto

UPDATED March 26th, 2018

The Patchwork Garden/Pedacitos de huerto Written by Diane de Anda • Illustrated by Oksana Kemarskaya Translated by Gabriela Baeza Ventura Piñata Books • 2013 • 32 pages Paperback ($17.95) ISBN: 9781558857636 Ages: 7-10

As her grandmother quilts, a little girl living in a large city listens to her speak about the old days when she grew vegetables in her garden. The grandmother’s vivid description makes the girl wish for her own garden and together, they work to use a small patch of land behind the local church for that purpose. Soon, the entire neighborhood is inspired, and small garden patches like the ones that make up the grandmother’s quilt appear all over town. The little girl serves as an agent of change as she brings strangers together to enjoy gardening, and this endows the story with warmth and a good dose of inspiration.

Read Related: It’s Our Garden: From Seeds to Harvest in a School Garden

The large print top-down English and Spanish text appears on one side, with the full-page art on the facing page. Children will learn food and garden-related vocabulary from the text, and easily understand the underlying message of how one person can make a difference, which is not delivered in a heavy-handed way.

—Reviewed by Bianca Elliott, PhD., High School and University Educator