"What Grew in Larry's Garden" by Laura Alary is a heartwarming delight! It's inspired by a real person – Larry, a teacher who spreads love and community spirit through his extraordinary vegetable garden. The book teaches valuable lessons in kindness, generosity, and the power of giving. With charming illustrations, it's a must-read for all ages!

I received an arc of this title from NetGalley for an honest review. A wonderful picture book about a little girl who helps her neighbor with his garden. Sometimes there are problems, and they need to figure out to make things better—great problem solving and all-around story.

A lovely book to warm your heart and teach many important lessons. What Grew in Larry's Garden is the story about a teacher Larry and his friend Grace who grow rainbow coloured vegetables in the garden behind Larry's home. The book focuses on the importance of working with your hands and heart and the joy to be derived from it. It becomes all the more relevant in today's scenario when we are all cooped indoors with various technological inventions.

Not only this, the book has important lessons about sharing and forgiveness. With lovely illustrations, this soft story is sure to find a place in your heart.

In a world where people tend to stay indoors, working, on technology etc. our communities are becoming more and more insulated. Often, people don't know who their neighbours even are. In this book, based on a real person, Larry, a teacher wants to cultivate a feeling of community using vegetables from his garden. Larry and his neighbour Grace work together to grow, care for and harvest his garden. He doesn't just grow normal vegetables, he grows rainbow coloured vegetables. When the garden has a problem, such as bugs, they research and find the answer to fix it. What Grace can't figure out is why Larry is growing so many little tomato plants. You will have to read this book to find out why. The illustrations add so much to the feel of this book. Like Larry, they are gentle and soft. When I read this book to my grandson, he liked it. He enjoyed learning about the various problems Grace and Larry encountered and how they solved them. He also loved the ending. A wonderful book for family, classroom, school and public libraries.

Whenever I read such stories, I think about all the other stories that will go untold and unheard. What Grew in Larry's Garden is definitely an important book - to understand kindness and forgiveness, and of course, growing something with your hands and heart. It's definitely a story for everyone to know, especially in the modern world. Accompanied with gorgeous gouache illustrations, this book is an absolute gem - precious and rich in values.

We enjoyed this book. It was a great story to tell Ada about growing things in the garden, the importance of sharing, looking after your things and about creating friendships, instead of walls and enemies. It showed people working together to create something beautiful.

Thanks to NetGalley and Kids Can Press for this ARC in return for my honest review. Just a super book. Really enjoyed this story based on a true life inner city school teacher who has a unique garden behind his house. He is assisted by a small neighbor girl and together they teach us how to keep a garden healthy and grow great items. They research information in order to keep bugs and animals from the garden. What sets this apart is that the story does not end there, but rather the friendship and community this garden produces. Simple illustrations, that do not overwhelm the story. Just a great book of what a community can become all because of what grows in Larry's garden.

What a lovely story about gardening, friendship, and paying it forward. Grace loves gardening with her neighbor, Larry. And, learns that you can grow more than plants in a small plot of earth. The story is inspired by a real Larry who used his garden to teach his students about reaching out and growing community.

The illustrations are lovely. The story is very nice and a great rhythm for reading aloud. Sometimes children's books beat you over the head with a moral. 'What Grew in Larry's Garden'shows something nice that someone did in a way that will inspire others to do the same.

Oh my goodness! What Grew in Larry's Garden by Laura Alary has been my favorite children's picture book in a long time. Based on a real person, this is a touching story about Larry who grows a garden and passes along his kindness and generosity through his students and a young neighbor. The illustrations are muted but still so vibrant, conveying the life in the garden. More than anything, the message is so gentle and uplifting. It's so heartwarming! The Author's Note at the end is doubly engaging and brought me to tears. It's a beautiful story of seeing the best in others and passing along kindness wherever we can.

Thank you to NetGalley and Kids Can Press for the advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A light-hearted read with stunning art. ‘What Grew in Larry’s Garden’ is inspired by the true story of a teacher and his tomato plant project. This is a heart-warming story focusing on patience, kindness, understanding, and staying positive. Furthermore, I just love how this book is not only about cultivating plants but relationships as well. One of my favourite aspect of this book was how Larry’s positive attitude of ‘We can figure this out’ influenced Grace in the end.

This was an adorable read and I’d highly recommend this.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Seriously I think a lot of adult need to read more kids books because most of the time it is always left me thinking and feeling fuzzy and warmth. It started wonderful but I was highly curious on how the story will end up. but BAM! what a cute ending! What Grew in Larry's Garden is inspired by a true story of a teacher with his tomato plant project (re: adorable). It is a story about kindness and being understanding towards each other. It is about finding solution yet still respect others. It is a book that show kindness is important and that it is contagious. What Grew in Larry's Garden is a beautiful book from front to back. It's binded with so much love and it left me inspired and happy :)

This is an adorable story about problem-solving and making the world a better place, one plant at a time!

A story about relationships, and how cultivating a garden can cultivate so much more, like community and kindness. Illustrations are stunning.

Grace loves to help her neighbor, Larry, in his garden. Together, they grow unique vegetables and Grace always wonders what Larry will do with all of them. One day, she finds out where all the plants go, and she learns a valuable lesson about building bridges in her community.


This book is based on a true story, which makes it even more special. I didn't really know where the story was headed. At first, I though Larry was possibly donating his plants to a soup kitchen to help feed the poor, or maybe he was selling them at a farmer's market and was going to use the money he made to buy Grace something special. However, what he really does with the plants is better than I imagined. In a world where fewer and fewer people know their neighbors, this story reminds me how great it feels to be part of a community in your own neighborhood. Also, the illustration are beautiful!

“Growing anything takes patience.”

This story of Larry Zacharko brought tears to my eyes. It’s such a heartfelt and filling story. It shows how small acts of kindness can bring a community together. An important story for the times we live in, where it’s easier to be drawn than friendly. Recommend this book to everyone who needs to see kindness in people.

Larry's Garden feels like a great place to be, through reading this book it shares a wonderful message and way to show kindness to others. I would have loved if there were some tips for planting and growing included too.

I love the fact that this kind and beautiful book is based on a real person, a teacher, who helps children overcome their fears and mistrust, and become a part of community.
Grace and Larry are neighbours. Together they take care of a little garden where they plant and water and prune things. They solve problems as they come up by doing a bit of research and using their creativity. When Grace asks Larry why they are growing tiny tomato plants, Larry asks her to wait and then she will see that this project is about much more than tomatoes. and indeed it is about growing a community spirit and facilitating interactions between the neighbours.
The colours are so gentle and lovely, while the story is full of genuine optimism and kindness.
Thank you to NetGalley and Kids Can Press for the ARC provided in exchange for an honest opinion.

With wonderful watercolors and a knack for problem-solving, What Grew in Larry’s Garden details the differences just a small plant can make, and how gardens can create a community when a wall threatens to create an upheaval between neighbors. But luckily, with Larry’s wisdom and his young neighbor’s creativity, the two find a way to include their new neighbor’s opinions and make sure he feels safe all the while making sure they can still grow things! Overall, this is a darling book that I can’t wait to be published. Great for grades 1-3.

A great story about gardening, giving and friendship between neighbors. My kids loved the illustrations and I loved the message behind this book. I felt like the ending could've used something more.

A warming story, nicely told and shown to us with good illustrations, of an elderly man, his tomatoes, and his 'pay it forward' attitude. Its message is as welcome as any, and the portrayal of the young girl learning about what the man is really growing is a strong one.