Amid the many garden books springing up this time of year, this pastel-colored confection of a book puts an imaginative spin on the growing process.  The girl, who helps her mother water and weed, has very definite opinions about what her garden would be like, ranging from flowers that grow patterns instead of solid colors to weeds not existing at all.  The rabbits would be chocolate (so she could eat them) and if she planted jelly beans, a jelly bean bush would grow.  Henkes takes the theme far enough without allowing it to devolve into anything too preposterous, and the illustrations are delightful, more in the style of A Good Day than his books about the beloved Lilly.  A perfect pick for spring.

 Image via HarperCollins Children's Books.