Each day before school a young boy rides with his dad “past mountains that look like whale bellies” to his Baba’s. He finds his grandmother in the kitchen, “hidden in the steam of boiling potatoes, dancing between the sink, fridge, and stove.” He knows his Baba, who doesn’t speak English well, lived through a time when she didn’t have much food; now she stores it everywhere, and the boy eats all of the breakfast she sets before him: oatmeal with pickles, cabbages, and beets that come from her garden. If he spills, she picks up the food and kisses it before returning it to his bowl. When she walks him to school she always looks for worms, picking them up and putting them in a dirt-filled jar. Later, she will place them in her garden; when the boy asks why, she wriggles her fingers in his hand. He understands the worms help the soil; he understands her love. When Baba eventually moves in with his family, the boy brings her oatmeal and a cut apple every morning, kissing a slice before handing it to her. She grows sun-gold tomatoes in a pot. In the rain, he looks for worms. A story based on the author’s childhood memories of his Polish immigrant grandmother is distinguished by writing full of vivid imagery and tenderness, accompanied by gorgeous watercolor and gouache illustrations that are richly hued, earthy, and lush. (Ages 4-8)

The bond between a child and his grandmother grows as they tend her garden together.

A young boy spends his mornings with his beloved Baba, his grandmother. She doesn't speak much English, but they connect through gestures, gardening, eating, and walking to school together. Marked by memories of wartime scarcity, Baba cherishes food, and the boy learns to do the same. Eventually, Baba needs to move in with the boy and his parents, and he has the chance to care for her as she’s always cared for him.

Inspired by memories from poet Jordan Scott’s childhood, with beautiful, dreamlike illustrations by Hans Christian Andersen Award-winning illustrator Sydney Smith, My Baba’s Garden is a deeply personal story that evokes universal emotions. Like Scott and Smith’s previous collaboration I Talk Like a River, winner of the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award, My Baba’s Garden lends wistful appreciation to cherished time with family.


A Charlotte Zolotow Honor Book
A New York Public Library Best Book of the Year
A Kirkus Reviews Best Picture Book of the Year
A School Library Journal Best Book of the Year
A Horn Book Fanfare Book
A Booklist Editors’ Choice
A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection
An Evanston Public Library Great Book for Kids