Pumpkin Spice - Jenny Meyerhoff and Eva Chatelain - Friendship Garden Book 2

Pumpkin Spice
The Friendship Garden  Book 2
Jenny Meyerhoff
Eva Chatelain
Aladdin a division of
Simon and Schuster
ISBN 9781481439091
eISBN 9781481439121
ASIN B00TBKUXNE

My oldest daughter and I read this book shortly after finishing the first book in the series, Green Thumbs-Up. When my daughter and I read together currently we alternate pages and these books are at the perfect level for her heading into grade 5. As a reluctant reader it is great to find authors and especially series that she really gets into. And she loves these books. And she is awaiting book 5 that will not be out until later. So right from the get go we are off to a good start with these books.

In this volume the school's friendship garden team is prepping the garden for winter. They are doing the last of the harvesting and pulling the remainder of the garden plants for compost. But the children not only learn about gardening they learn about honesty, friendship, owning up to your mistakes and the power of words. That is an awful lot packed into this book, but it is done well.

The top three things my daughter loved most about the book are:

1. Anna learns the power of words, especially when you accuse someone without proof.
2. That the children learn that things are not always as they appear, and by being open they gain a new friend.
3. Being honest always matters.

She also loves that there is a recipe again at the back of the book to try.

What I loved is the story is engaging enough to keep my interesting as I read along with my daughter. And that my daughter was so into the book that we read an extra chapter almost every day while reading it. 

We both really enjoyed the illustrations by Éva Chatelain. The simple drawings really add to the story. We also both really liked that now that the main characters were introduced this book was a little more story and a little less back story. It seemed to go much faster.

This story is really well written. Children and those who read with them will enjoy the book and the series. And as part of a growing series we hope for many more books in The Friendship Garden series to read over the next few years.  

Overall my summary would be this is a great book in a great series.

Books by Jenny Meyerhoff:
Friendship Garden
Green Thumbs-Up
Pumpkin Spice
Project Peep
Sweet Peas and Honeybees
Starry Skies and Fireflies

Other Books:
The Barftastic Life of Louie Burger
Third Grade Baby
Queen of Secrets
Class B.U.R.P. (The Barftastic Life of Louie Burger)
Sami's Sleepaway Summer
Attack of the Girlzillas (The Barftastic Life of Louie Burger)
Playing Cupid