by Victoria Allenby, Dean Griffiths
5 out of 5 stars
Timo signs up to participate in a garden tour, and only has seven days to prepare his garden for the judges. He spends every day weeding, hoeing, planting, and trimming, and ignores his friends’ invitations to go swimming or play tennis. Eventually he realizes that he should have been tending to his friendships instead of spending so much time in his garden.
I love the sweet characters! Each animal character is so adorable and friendly.
The story is deliciously emotional and tender. Timo gets all excited about redesigning his garden, but begins to get discouraged when the work ends up being overwhelming. He is determined to get it all done before the garden tour, but realizes that he is pushing his friends away in the meantime. I loved his character development!
I love the beautiful illustrations! The gentle lines and bright colors really draw you into the story. I love the detail on the animals’ fur. The artwork is clear and lovely.
One of the special things about this book is the flower glossary at the back. All through the book, Timo is planting and tending to different types of plants and flowers, and at the end we get an illustration of each one with all the names. There’s clover, daisy, ginger, gentian, iris, marigold, rose, cosmos, poppy, lilac, pansy, rue, lily, and violet.
by Victoria Allenby, Dean Griffiths
5 out of 5 stars
Timo’s friend, Hedgewick, is hoping for an opportunity to show off his baking skills to a visiting food critic, so Timo agrees to host an apple festival in his orchard and invite the entire town. But Timo gets nervous at large parties, and he worries that he will not be a good host.
As Timo prepares the invitations, decorations, and games, his friends give him advice about how to host a party and talk to people with ease. Meanwhile, Hedgewick is baking and cooking and chopping apples in a storm of delicious recipes.
My favorite line in this book is “The orchard was as quiet as a wish”. I just love the graceful writing style. Even a simple children’s book becomes an absolute delight with writing like this! The story is sweet and tender. I love the sweet characters! Each animal character is so adorable and friendly.
I just adore Timo’s character. He loves to make lists. He is industrious, and works hard to help his friends. He worries about not living up to social expectations. He’s determined and friendly and sweet. The character development is wonderful too!
One thing that makes this book really special is the recipe in the back for an apple-banana cake just like in the story. I just love little details like that!
I love the beautiful illustrations! The gentle lines and bright colors really draw you into the story. I love the detail on the animals’ fur. The artwork is clear and lovely.
by Victoria Allenby, Dean Griffiths
5 out of 5 stars
Timo’s friends are planning a camping trip, but none of them have ever been camping. Timo is nervous about trying something new, so he heads to the library and researches how to tie a knot, build a fire, paddle a canoe, and navigate with a compass.
The friends start off on their camping trip, and they make some mistakes. The tent falls apart, the canoe topples them into the lake, and they get lost in a swamp. Whenever one of the group make a mistake, Suki teases them good-naturedly and everyone laughs, but it bothers Timo that Suki is teasing people. It doesn’t seem to bother anyone else, so Timo doesn’t say anything, but his feelings are hurt. Timo will have to brave the wilderness and find a way to explain to Suki that her words are sometimes hurtful.
I just love that the first thing Timo does when confronted with a problem is make a list or go to the library. A rabbit after my own heart! Timo is such an amazing little character. He’s sensitive and kind, and I just love that about him. He has excellent character development, and I appreciate the deep thoughts and feelings that go on in that little heart.
My favorite line in this book is “[The library] smelled like paper and ink and comfort”. I just love the graceful writing style. Even a simple children’s book becomes an absolute delight with writing like this! The story is sweet and tender. I love the sweet characters! Each animal character is so adorable and friendly.
I love the beautiful illustrations! The gentle lines and bright colors really draw you into the story. I love the detail on the animals’ fur. The artwork is clear and lovely. It really brings the characters to life. I could FEEL Timo’s anxiety or happiness through the art.
Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a free and honest review. All the opinions stated here are my own true thoughts, and are not influenced by anyone.
Luminous Libro 