Celia Planted a Garden: The Story of Celia Thaxter and Her Island Garden

Have you ever heard of Celia Thaxter? This is the story of how she brought flowers and life to wherever she lived. She is also known for her poems and beautiful paintings.

The text was a great length for a picture book biography. The lines from Celia’s poems were a fantastic addition. My favorite quotation was as follows: “The very act of planting a seed in the earth has in it to me something beautiful.” I loved to learn how she loved flowers and longed for the sea. The fantastic amount of research done for this book is amazing. I love the timeline and bibliography at the end of the book, too.

The paintings are exquisite. I think they paid attention to the beautiful details of the flowers in a way that is very relatable to a child. The colors are fantastic to give the feel of New England and the pop of colors the flowers bring.

My eight-year-old and five-year-old children both enjoyed this book. They both loved the garden as they are relating it to our flower and vegetable gardens. I would recommend this book for four- to nine-year-old children.