Description: A "celebration of family, plants, and the boundlessness of love told in lively, poetic letters from aunt to niece"--
Brief description:
Lucy Ruth Cummins made her author-illustrator debut with the ALA Notable picture book A Hungry Lion, or A Dwindling Assortment of Animals. She has also illustrated This Is Not a Valentine, written by Carter Higgins, and The Love Letter, written by Anika Aldamuy Denise, as well as wrote and illustrated Stumpkin. As a teenager, Lucy taught herself how to type on an old-fashioned typewriter with just her toes, and even wrote a few love letters this way! The youngest of six children, she was born in Canada, where she lived in an actual log cabin; she was raised in Upstate New York and currently lives with her little family in Brooklyn, New York. Visit her online at www.lucyruthcummins.squarespace.com.
Review Quotes:
The combination of accurately depicted plants with occasional silly rhymes and loving endearments make for a delightful balance of education and fun. This book brims with both warmth and information. A sweet introduction to houseplants. - Kirkus Reviews
A picture book about the love between a niece and her aunt, told through a year's worth of letters and gifts. The letters are told in rhyme and include feelings of familial love and plant care tips. - School Library Journal
Foliage proves the food of love for a child recipient in this epistolary primer on how to cultivate the spirit of Valentine's Day any time of year. Spiro and Cummins tenderly vine a green-thumb vibe through every scene. - Publishers Weekly
Spiro's epistolary rhyming text makes for a delightful reading experience, and each delivery features a tag serving as identification and descriptor of the gifted plant. Splashy illustrations in gouache, colored pencil, and crayon have an appealing scribbly quality that feels casual and inviting. Sure to make a budding botanist out of any young reader. - Booklist
This book should not be missed by young green thumbs or by aunts and uncles with special nieces or nephews, although they may want to plan for a trip to the nursery. - San Francisco Book Review