Memory Garden

January 1, 2024
Preschool-Grade 3 A young girl helps her grandmother in the garden to make new memories in this picture book written and illustrated by a mother-daughter duo. As they work, Nana tells stories about when she was a young girl in Iran and her beautiful garden there. The painted illustrations fill the book's pages with vibrant Iranian colors--saffron yellows, minty greens--and include details influenced by Persian culture, such as the flowers that resemble a tapestry and the samovar for afternoon tea. As Nana tells stories about the wonderful memories she made with family in the garden--playing with cousins in the trees, harvesting mulberries--she and her granddaughter work in their new garden and appreciate what they can see, smell, and hear there. Nana alludes to having to leave her home with its magnificent garden but doesn't elaborate on why when her granddaughter asks. This lyrical, multigenerational picture book about leaving behind a place that you love but rebuilding home in a new country is a great match for Bao Phi and Thi Bui's A Different Pond (2017).

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January 22, 2024
A mother-daughter team of Iranian descent contemplate memory in this intergenerational tale. An overall-clad, red-capped protagonist with two long braids loves helping in Nana’s garden, but admits that “what I love even more are the stories she tells me about a garden she knows far away,” an unspecified place that Nana calls “back home.” There, tall cypress trees stood like soldiers, flower beds were filled with fragrant blooms, and harvesting fruit was a beloved ritual. Memories unfurl as Nana, in a straw hat and green shirt, flashes back to her younger self, only obscurely referencing history (about the garden, “We had to leave it”) to focus on joyful sensate reminiscences. Vibrant illustrations in a green-gold palette—painted in gouache on vellum—include Persian motifs. Author and illustrator notes conclude. Ages 4–8.

Starred review from January 15, 2024
An immigrant grandmother and her grandchild sow family history alongside newly planted flowers. Nana and the young narrator are planting a new crop of geraniums. The protagonist loves packing dirt with the yellow shovel, but nothing's better than hearing Nana tell stories of her childhood garden "back home." As the narrator waters and helps plant new blooms, Nana describes cypress trees that looked like soldiers, flowers that smelled like perfume, a hedgehog that, after being thrown into the water by Nana's friend, turned out to be a good swimmer, and the family gardener, who gave her rides in a wheelbarrow. Nana pensively reminisces about her family samovar, prompting the protagonist to ask what happened to Nana's garden. Cryptically, Nana replies, "We had to leave it...When we moved to this country, it was time to plant a whole new garden." Though the author and illustrator both discuss their Persian heritage in the backmatter, the narrative itself never states where Nana is from or why she can't return; children may be left confused. Still, this tale deftly invokes the delight of growing something new while preserving old memories and traditions. Amber-toned illustrations and lyrical, child-friendly text paint a poetic picture of both the present and the past. Nana and the child are tan-skinned. Beautiful though potentially perplexing musings on immigration, family, and home. (Picture book. 3-8)

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March 1, 2024
Memory and connections with the "old country" can be important parts of the experience for immigrant families. In this story, a young girl helps her Iranian (as identified in the back matter) grandmother, Nana, tend her garden, while relishing "the stories she tells me about a garden she knows far away." As the two plant and water geraniums, Nana shares tales of "back home," even though the girl doesn't "know where 'back home' is." There were tall cypress trees, fragrant jasmine, lilac, and hyacinth; there was a fishpond, and fruit trees including cherry, mulberry, and pomegranate. Gouache illustrations on vellum represent a modest Western garden in contrast with the lusher, bursting garden of Nana's memories on the facing page. Paisley, floral, and other distinctly traditional Persian designs adorn the pages in saffron yellows, minty greens, and radish-y reds. These embellishments make a visual connection between Nana's new home and her "back home" memories; the book's playful endpapers also capture this design aesthetic. In this gentle tale, stories are like plants that grow in the girl's imagination, taking root to bloom into cultural pride and intergenerational connection. Author and illustrator notes discuss the importance of gardens for many Iranians as well as the importance of cultural transmission. Julie Hakim Azzam

(Copyright 2024 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

Starred review from April 1, 2024

K-Gr 2-The memoir of a young girl and her time spent in her garden with her grandmother. Nana shares stories of the garden she remembers from her home country when she was her granddaughter's age. Nana describes the fragrance of the flowers; they dig in the dirt, feeling the soil that nurtures the plants. Nana explains the use of water from the thundering stream near their home to water the plants, and that while they are enjoying apples for a snack, back in her home country, they had cherries, apricots, and pomegranates. Nana hopes that the memories she makes with her granddaughter while they are planting together will stay with her forever. The illustrations perfectly match the story as it is being told. During flashbacks, Ghahremani uses other colors as background to differentiate the past from the present. All the illustrations are hand-painted gouache on vellum. Curves throughout the drawings provide a feeling of dynamism within the gardens; elements of expressionism not only show movement but also give a dreamy stamp to the memories. The author's note addresses how Ghahremani used the five senses as a way to bring to life her family's Persian background. The illustrator's note by the author's daughter further explains how she used Persian culture in her choices of the vibrant colors and images she created. VERDICT Children and adults will thoroughly enjoy this vivid memoir that weaves past and present in a timeless celebration of family and culture. A recommended, essential purchase.-Davia Schmidt

Copyright 2024 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2024
Memory and connections with the "old country" can be important parts of the experience for immigrant families. In this story, a young girl helps her Iranian (as identified in the back matter) grandmother, Nana, tend her garden, while relishing "the stories she tells me about a garden she knows far away." As the two plant and water geraniums, Nana shares tales of "back home," even though the girl doesn't "know where 'back home' is." There were tall cypress trees, fragrant jasmine, lilac, and hyacinth; there was a fishpond, and fruit trees including cherry, mulberry, and pomegranate. Gouache illustrations on vellum represent a modest Western garden in contrast with the lusher, bursting garden of Nana's memories on the facing page. Paisley, floral, and other distinctly traditional Persian designs adorn the pages in saffron yellows, minty greens, and radish-y reds. These embellishments make a visual connection between Nana's new home and her "back home" memories; the book's playful endpapers also capture this design aesthetic. In this gentle tale, stories are like plants that grow in the girl's imagination, taking root to bloom into cultural pride and intergenerational connection. Author and illustrator notes discuss the importance of gardens for many Iranians as well as the importance of cultural transmission.

(Copyright 2024 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)