School Library Journal Starred Review

K-Gr 1-A comforting, richly illustrated story about a birthday surprise. An urban African-American girl and her father buy plants, potting soil, and a window box at the supermarket, ride the bus to their apartment, and put together a colorful gift for the child's mother. Rhyming verse carries the brief story, while wonderful, warm, full-color illustrations present scenes from novel angles, and depict a loving family with a sense of intimacy, sincerity, and joy. A reassuring choice for reading aloud.-Barbara Peklo Abrahams, Oneida City Schools, Manlius, NY

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

A girl and her father create a window box as a birthday present for her mother. PW said, """"The plot scarcely portends the appeal of this lyrical, ebullient book."""" Ages 3-7. (Apr.)

Horn Book

Hewitt's realistic oil paintings and Bunting's rhyming text pull the reader into a story of surprise and fun. The young narrator has, with the help of her father, assembled a 'garden in a shopping cart' to take home and plant in a window box high above the city as a birthday gift for her mother. The African-American child and her plants make a colorful picture in this story of the gift of love and beauty.

Kirkus Reviews

A young girl carries a carton of potted flowers from the supermarket home and up the stairs; she and her father replant them in a window box and light candles on a birthday cake to surprise Mom when she comes wearily home from work. In Hewitt's expansive oil paintings, the girl's honey-brown face shines as brightly as the daisies and daffodils; Bunting's brief rhymed text (Garden in a cardboard box/Walking to the bus/Garden sitting on our laps/People smile at us!'') celebrates the child's contagious happiness, the warm response of everyone who sees her, and the pleasure of havinga color jamboree'' of flowers in the window of an inner-city apartment, high above the street. A simple, pleasing episode with a contemporary subtext. (Picture book. 4-7)"

Starred Review ALA Booklist

Starred Review From grocery cart to checkout stand, from bus to third-floor walk-up, an excited little girl totes home a heavy armload of flowering plants. Sitting on the newspaper-strewn floor, she and her father transplant them, creating a Garden in a window box / High above the street / Where butterflies can stop and rest / And ladybugs can meet. The garden is much admired by passing pedestrians, but the true object of this labor of love will discover the surprise upon her return home. Candles on a birthday cake / chocolate ice cream, too. / Happy, happy birthday, Mom! A garden box--for you. The simple rhymed verse, which skips along in pace with the child's anticipation, is smoothly integrated with the vibrant, lifelike paintings. The garden's progress from pots to planter is seen from several startling perspectives--from the little girl's lap, from the base of a staircase, from directly overhead, from street level. Prereaders can trace the floral motif, repeated in the child's tights, the bus passenger's dress, the birthday cake, and the plate, or they can discover such hidden treats as the girl's reflection in the bus mirror. Almost as a bonus, one splendid close-up of the blooms is accompanied by verse identifying five common flowers. This title succeeds both as an introduction to the pleasures of gardening, and as a picture of a family, African American in this case, in which gifts are fashioned by loving hands. (Reviewed Feb. 15, 1994)