Setting aside the notion of gardens as places of tranquility, this picture book depicts a bustling kitchen garden. Two children help a man with planting, watering, and harvesting vegetables, while a dog, a cat, and a rabbit observe the fun. All around them, snails, caterpillars, birds, bugs, and worms creep, crawl, fly, climb, dig, and generally cavort about this flourishing garden. The ink-and-watercolor illustrations offer plenty of details for children to explore. Cutaway views show small critters nestled in their underground homes between root vegetables. As noted in the title, a repeated theme in the rhymed couplets is the direction plants grow: "Broccoli grows up. / Beets grow down. / Green beans climb / around and around." The short verses create a quick pace and an upbeat tempo throughout. Pair this with Janet Stevens' Tops and Bottoms (1995) for a lively story hour or classroom unit on gardens.

A simple rhyme introduces young readers to the gardening experience, with special attention paid to where vegetables grow relative to the ground ("Corn grows up. / Carrots grow down. / Cucumbers climb around and around"). The glorious illustrations star two kids, a father figure, and cheerful bugs, birds, and critters, some of which partake in the end-of-book vegetable-based feast.

Inside a colorful garden, some plants "grow up," while others "grow down, and still others grow "around and around." This catchy, rhyming refrain, with some variation, introduces children to an abundance of garden vegetables and legumes, including corn, carrots, cucumbers, peppers, potatoes, broccoli, beets, green beans, okra, onions and tomatoes, as well as the ambiguous pumpkin, and follows them from seed to plant to lunch. The different plants are shown sprouting under and above ground, and youngsters will delight in the bird- and mole's-eye perspectives. Energetic watercolor-and-ink illustrations, inhabited by multiracial tots, a farmer, a scarecrow, friendly bugs, worms, crows, rabbits and, of course, a plethora of seeds, plants and produce, are a feast for the eyes and will whet children's appetites for further knowledge—and for a very healthy lunch. An inviting introduction to the wonder of plants, food and gardening, this charming selection will be a favorite of teachers, students and home readers alike. (Picture book. 2-5)

PreS-Gr 1-This cheerful story is a pleasant introduction to planting and prepositions. When two children help plant a garden, they learn that some vegetables grow underground, some shoot up above it, and some grow on vines that twine around and around. And they all end up as lunch. The rhyming text is simple, but the words are well chosen. The colorful cartoon illustrations are humorous and lively, with lots of motion to keep readers turning the pages. Children will enjoy finding various insects on each page and talking about the roles they play in a garden. A good choice for introducing how things grow.-Mary Hazelton, Elementary Schools in Warren & Waldoboro, ME Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information.