Holly Bloom's Garden by Shari Dash Greenspan

Holly Bloom wants to be a great gardener but she doesn’t seem to have the knack. Despite suggestions and support from her mom Iris, and her siblings Bud and Rose – all great flower-growers – Holly just can’t seem to get her garden to bloom. She tries water and fertilizer, uses all the right tools, even paints her thumb green, but her daisies keep drooping. Through trial-and-error and with great perseverance, Holly finally realizes that she does not need to grow flowers with soil and seeds. Inspired by her artistic father, she taps into her natural creative abilities and surprises everyone by “growing” her own unique flowers from paper and paste, pipe cleaners and paint, and best of all, these flowers are made especially by Holly Bloom. This charming book uses playful language to teach plenty about gardening, but more about the joy of being yourself and finding your own true talents – even if that makes you a late bloomer.

Alley Oops by Shari Dash Greenspan

This story relates the painful and embarrassing aftermath of name-calling and bullying from the perspective of the bully. J. J. Jax has been tormenting an overweight boy named Patrick, calling him Pig-Pen and Porky, to the point that Patrick is now afraid to go to school. Learning of his son's behavior, J. J.'s father lectures him to stop bullying Patrick. When that approach fails, Mr. Jax tries another tack and shares an experience he had as a youthful bully and the consequences he recently faced as a result of his actions. Touched by his father's words, J.J. reaches out to Patrick in a school arm-wrestling contest and experiences the "alley oops" moment of empowerment and self-esteem that comes from doing the right thing. Snappy dialogue highlights the harmful, lasting effects of bullying and the importance of finding common ground toward conflict resolution. Believable contemporary illustrations bring the story to life with expressive body language.