"Tia Maria's Garden" is about a child's visit to his aunt's. The reader quickly discovers that Tia Maria's garden is the Sonoran Desert, which lies just beyond the home. Walking around, the youngster sees saguaros, chollas, jackrabbits, washes and prickly pear cacti. The book is beautifully written and can be appreciated by third graders and up. The author was well up to the task of writing this book. A New Mexico resident, Ann Nolan Clark (Newbery Award winner) had already published books on the desert. The text is written as poetry. While the language is poetic, the book also instructs the reader on what's out in the desert. It inspires the reader to explore wild places. In this respect, a comparison can be made with Byrd Baylor's "Desert Voices" and "The Desert Is Theirs." This was initially published the same year that the illustrator (Ezra Jack Keats) won the Caldecott Medal for "The Snowy Day." The illustrations are simple pencil drawings. Despite being created by two of the greats of their day, "Tia Maria's Garden" is out-of-print and mostly forgotten. It is the illustrations that date the title. In this respect, "Tia Maria's Garden" may best be appreciated by those with an interest in vintage desert books.
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