When my gardening plans got rained out this afternoon, I opened up my copy of “Best Books for Kids & Teens” which had just arrived in my mailbox. As I always do, I turned to the index in a hopeful (and egocentric) search for my name. (“Best Books…” is the Canadian Children’s Book Centre’s annual publication of a catalogue intended to help teachers, librarians, and parents choose the best from the hundreds of books for young people that are published in Canada each year.) I had two new books last year – A Pocket Can Have A Treasure In It and Love Every Leaf: The Life of Landscape Architect Cornelia Hahn Oberlander.

Happy day: two page numbers by my name in the “Best Books…” index. Even happier day when …

… I flip through the pages and find a star beside Love Every Leaf (signifying a “title of exceptional calibre”)!

So, if you don’t yet have a copy for the student or garden lover, artist or environmentalist in your life, go out and buy one! Now that it’s stopped raining, I’ll be heading out to my garden!