My Love for You Is Like a Garden
Written and Illustrated by Laura Smetana
All Ages | 38 Pages
Publisher: Flying Cardinal Press | ISBN-13: 9781737140962
Publisher’s Book Summary: With bright, watercolor collages, My Love for You Is Like a Garden celebrates unconditional love with vibrant garden scenes that will delight fans of Lois Ehlert and Eric Carle. Perfect for baby showers, bedtime read-alouds, or anyone you love!
Say “I love you” with this charming picture book families will love reading together over and over again. Bold, colorful illustrations of flowers, butterflies, and animals will inspire readers of all ages to explore the natural world—and maybe even plant their own garden. Children will delight in finding ladybugs hidden throughout, and a glossary provides the names of each plant and animal featured. A beautiful book to share with a child, parent, or anyone who means the world to you!
My Love for You is Like a Garden Activity Kit – Free Download
Available for purchase on: Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes and Noble, Author’s Website.
A Friends and Family Offer
If you’ve already purchased a copy of My Love for You Is Like a Garden, head on over to Laura Smetana’s website to receive two free downloadable 8×10 watercolor collage art prints:
–Print 1 – My love for you is like a garden
–Print 2 – My love for you flows freely
ABOUT THE AUTHOR-ILLUSTRATOR
Laura Smetana is the author and illustrator of My Love for You Is Like a Garden, a joyful picture book that celebrates unconditional love with bold, watercolor collages of garden scenes. She is also the author of Ice Cream with Grandpa: A Loving Story for Kids About Alzheimer’s & Dementia (illustrated by Elisabete B. P. de Moraes), which was winner of a Northern Lights Book Award, and Little Squiggle’s Lake Adventure, which she co-authored with her son, Stirling Hebda.
When she isn’t writing or painting, Laura can be found talking to kids at school author visits, gardening in her sunhat, and spending time with her family outdoors. Laura lives in the Chicago suburbs with her husband and son. She is a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators and the Downers Grove Artists’ Guild.
Visit her online at www.laurasmetana.com and @SmetanaLaura on Twitter.
AUTHOR INTERVIEW
Life Is What It's Called - What inspired you to write My Love for You Is Like a Garden?
Laura Smetana - The inspiration for My Love for You Is Like a Garden began during the COVID pandemic. During those early months when we were under stay-at-home orders, I spent a lot of time gardening in my backyard. We couldn’t see family and friends in-person, but when I was in my garden, I was reminded of their love—behind each plant there was a story and shared memories. For example, the lilacs I planted with my dad that now bloom in his memory, the tiger lilies from my mom that reminded me of summers with my grandparents, the apple tree my son picked out with his grandpa. There is love in every garden, and the ways unconditional love can present itself reminded me of a garden—and the idea blossomed from there!
Life Is What It's Called - Why is the message of this story important?
Laura Smetana - The message of unconditional love and understanding is universal. It’s important for children—and people of all ages for that matter—to feel seen, nurtured, and know they are loved. Love can be tender, love can bloom with pride, love can be fierce—but no matter what, rain or shine, it’s important for children to know they will be loved throughout all the ups and downs in life. My Love for You Is Like a Garden feels like a great big hug when I read it, and I hope that everyone reading the book gets that same feeling of being loved too. How does My Love for You Is Like a Garden stand apart from other picture books on the market?
My Love for You Is Like a Garden is a joyful celebration of love, but it is also interactive with ladybugs hidden throughout and educational with a glossary that gives children the opportunity to learn the names of the flowers, plants, and animals featured in the book. The subject matter also lends itself well to extension activities like visiting a local garden, planting a seed and watching it grow, or creating art inspired by nature.
To help parents, caregivers, and educators build upon their reading experience, I created a free Activity Kit for My Love for You Is Like a Garden that’s available for download on my website. There are activities for all ages, including coloring pages, cut-paper collage art activities, a garden color scavenger hunt, plant observation journal, word search, writing prompts and more.
While My Love for You Is Like a Garden is a children’s book, it has crossover appeal for people of all ages. It is the perfect way to say, “I love you,” and it makes a great gift for anyone you love—children, parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and friends. I have heard from people who are planning to give My Love for You Is Like a Garden to their parents for Mother’s Day and Father’s Day, as a way to show their love. I’m planning on giving a copy to my mom, and I hope she feels loved whenever she reads it!
Life Is What It's Called - How does My Love for You Is Like a Garden relate to your life?
Laura Smetana - I started creating the watercolor washes for the book in June 2021. Little did I know a tornado would rip through our community that night, sending a tree through our roof, and causing severe damage to many of our neighbors' homes—leaving many uninhabitable. It also swept away a wall of trees in our yard, my flower garden, and a watering can that my dad, who passed away the year prior from Alzheimer’s disease, had given me. He taught me how to garden, so the watering can was very special to me. In the days after the tornado, my husband got me a beautiful blue-green, metal watering can, which became the inspiration for the first spread I completed for the book—a watering can with hearts pouring out. To me it is a symbol of love, healing, and hope.
Over the next year, while working on the collages for My Love for You Is Like a Garden, and repairing our home, I worked on replanting my garden and was reminded of all the love shown by our neighbors, family, friends, and strangers in the aftermath of the tornado—those who helped clean up debris, removed fallen trees and branches, tarped our roof, brought meals, and helped with repairs and more over the course of the next year. Many of the illustrations in the book were inspired by the flowers, plants, and animals in our garden—those that were planted before the tornado, and those that were planted after, including flowers and plants from neighbors, friends, and family to help us replant what was lost, and a tree from our local arboretum, as part of their tree recovery effort in the community. Now, when I look out my window, I am reminded of all of their love and kindness.
Life Is What It's Called - What makes My Love for You Is Like a Garden a good fit for a baby shower gift?
Laura Smetana - The message of unconditional love combined with vibrant, watercolor collages makes My Love for You Is Like a Garden a great baby shower gift that parents and children will enjoy reading over again and again. It’s a wonderful way for new parents to express their love and share the joy of reading, all while introducing their child to flowers, plants, and animals. I loved getting books at my baby shower and I love giving books to help new parents build their own home libraries for their children. I have fond memories of my mom reading to me every night as a kid, and now as a parent myself, I look forward to reading bedtime stories to my son every night. I started reading to him daily while I was on my maternity leave and we've kept that daily tradition ever since. Reading books aloud is a great way for parents to bond with their children and create shared memories that plant the seeds for a life-long love of reading.
Life Is What It's Called - Why is it a good read-aloud for children?
Laura Smetana - The text of My Love for You Is Like a Garden is simple and sweet, and the perfect way for parents to say “I love you” while snuggling on the couch for storytime or as a bedtime read- aloud. The bold watercolor collages are eye-catching and children will delight in finding the ladybugs hidden in the illustrations, which adds a fun, interactive element to the read-aloud. When I read My Love for You Is Like a Garden to kids, I always enjoy the moment they discover there are ladybugs hidden in the illustrations. Then it’s wonderful to see their anticipation at each page turn and their excitement when they find each one.
As a former early childhood educator, I loved reading books to my students that offered the opportunity to return to the text and illustrations for further discussion and observation. My Love for You Is Like a Garden gives children the opportunity to go back and count each ladybug, as well as to find each plant and animal named in the glossary, and continue exploring the themes in the book in their own world—making it an educational, interactive, and engaging read-aloud that children and adults will enjoy returning to again and again.
Life Is What It's Called - What was the best part about writing this book?
Laura Smetana - One of my favorite parts of working on My Love for You Is Like a Garden was creating the cut- paper watercolor collages that complement the text. My process starts by painting the watercolor washes—usually outside on my deck, surrounded by flowers, trees, and birdsong. Then there is sketching, cutting, tracing, more cutting, arranging, pondering, rearranging, and finally gluing everything into place. Creating a collage is like a puzzle, and I love seeing each piece of cut paper come together to create the final illustration.
On my website, I have a behind-the-scenes, step-by-step look at how I created the monarch butterfly collage, and I love talking to students about the illustration and book-making process at school author visits. I’m so happy My Love for You Is Like a Garden is finding its way into the hands of readers and I hope children are inspired to try making their own cut-paper collages at home or school. I can’t get enough of collage art, in fact, I’m working on another watercolor collage book inspired by fall leaves. Readers can sign up for my newsletter at www.laurasmetana.com to get updates and to learn about my other books too.
GIVEAWAY
Enter for a chance to win a glorious garden-themed grand prize, including a hardcover copy of My Love for You Is Like a Garden, autographed by Laura Smetana!
One (1) grand prize winner receives:
- A cotton tote bag filled with:
- A hardcover copy of My Love for You Is Like a Garden, signed by author & illustrator Laura Smetana
- 4 oz of tea from Adagio Teas
- A bar of Italian rose soap
- Cherry blossom & tea rose hand lotion
- Sunflower & ladybug garden stake
- A 12-piece colored pencil set
- A mini sketchbook with elastic closure band
- 5 blank cards & envelopes featuring art from My Love for You is Like a Garden
- A paperback copy of My Love for You Is Like a Garden, signed by author & illustrator Laura Smetana
This post is partnership with The Children’s Book Review and Flying Cardinal Press. This post also contains an affiliate link to Amazon.
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