Timo's Garden (Toadstool Corners, 1)

Timo signs up to participate in a garden tour, and only has seven days to prepare his garden for the judges. He spends every day weeding, hoeing, planting, and trimming, and ignores his friends' invitations to go swimming or play tennis. Eventually he realizes that he should have been tending to his friendships instead of spending so much time in his garden.I love the sweet characters! Each animal character is so adorable and friendly.The story is deliciously emotional and tender. Timo gets all excited about redesigning his garden, but begins to get discouraged when the work ends up being overwhelming. He is determined to get it all done before the garden tour, but realizes that he is pushing his friends away in the meantime. I loved his character development!I love the beautiful illustrations! The gentle lines and bright colors really draw you into the story. I love the detail on the animals' fur. The artwork is clear and lovely.This book would be perfect for young readers who are just starting to read short chapter books on their own. Each "chapter" is 4-7 pages long.One of the special things about this book is the flower glossary at the back. All through the book, Timo is planting and tending to different types of plants and flowers, and at the end we get an illustration of each one with all the names. There's clover, daisy, ginger, gentian, iris, marigold, rose, cosmos, poppy, lilac, pansy, rue, lily, and violet.Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a free and honest review. All the opinions stated here are my own true thoughts, and are not influenced by anyone.