Husband-and-wife team David Small and Sarah Stewart collaborate once again to present The Gardener, a lyrical and deeply-felt portrayal of the light of kindness in dark surroundings. The hardships created by the Great Depression send the vibrant Lydia Grace Finch away from her loving family and country home to stay with her Uncle Jim, a curmudgeonly baker living in the big city. Despite Uncle Jim’s initial coldness and the city’s apparent bleakness, Lydia Grace begins to discover pockets of hope among the skyscrapers’ shadows, and ultimately finds a way to share the light she has carried inside herself with everyone around her.

Small’s elegant line drawings are adept at conjuring up both atmosphere and crystal-clear characters, and Stewart’s masterly narrative bypasses any cloying sentiment to strike right at the deepest movements of the human heart. The Gardener, with its beautiful depiction of human connection, is perfect for reading aloud.

Recommended for readers of all ages.