Timo's Garden: 1 (Toadstool Corners, 1

When Timo signs up for the Great, Green Garden Tour, he feels pressure to make his garden “great” and neglects his friends to work in it. When his friends help him avoid a disaster, he realizes his friendships are more important than pride in his garden.

When Timo signs up for the Great, Green Garden Tour, he feels pressure to make his garden “great” and neglects his friends to work in it. When his friends help him avoid a disaster, he realizes his friendships are more important than pride in his garden

At first, the Great, Green Garden Tour sounds like a lot of fun. Before long, though, young rabbit Timo starts to find that it’s a lot of pressure. Can he really call his garden “great?” Maybe it needs one little change.or a few.or a lot.

Anxious to make his garden measure up, Timo forgets to take time out for anyone else. Luckily, his friends know just how to remind him of the value of being there for others: by being there for him when he needs it most.

In musical prose filled with word play and whimsy, Victoria Allenby invites young readers to come along as Timo sets to work with a skip and a song, meets trouble with a sniff and a sigh, and triumphs with a smile that’s as bright as the sun. Dean Griffiths’ charming illustrations are both classic and fresh, infusing each animal character with personality and life. Complete with an illustrated glossary of flowers, this beautifully-designed early reader might just be worthy of the word “great.”