In this perennial classic by Caldecott Honor–winning author Lois Ehlert, little ones learn the colors of the rainbow as they watch plants grow in a beautifully vibrant garden. Through brilliant, textured cut paper collages, the story follows the progress of a mother and daughter in their backyard as they plant bulbs, seeds, and seedlings and nurture their growth into flowers. Bold, spare text and dazzling illustrations will inspire readers to take a closer look at the natural world and maybe even start a garden of their own. This educational and enjoyable book helps children understand how to plant bulbs, seeds, and seedlings, and nurture their growth. Lois Ehlert's bold collage illustrations include six pages of staggered width, presenting all the flowers of each color of the rainbow. From Publishers Weekly Every fall "Mom and I plant a rainbow," by carefully placing bulbs in the gardens, tiger lilies, yellow daffodils, blue hyacinth and purple iris, among others. And every winter they order seeds from catalogues for zinnias, daisies, marigolds and much more. The bulbs sprout in spring; seedlings are set out. Come summer, it's time to harvest the rainbow-colored crop. Despite a die-cut insert that relates the colors of the spectrum, this title lacks the fresh approach to the natural cycle of planting, growth and reaping of Ehlert's Growing Vegetable Soup. While still welcome for its bursts of color and well-documented labeling of flowers, this book cannot add to the concept of gardening, precisely because its predecessor was so comprehensive. Ages 3-8. Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition. From School Library Journal Preschool-Grade 1 Planting a Rainbow, a companion to Ehlert's Growing Vegetable Soup (HBJ, 1987), is a dazzling celebration of the colorful variety in a flower garden and the cyclical excitement of gardening. A young child relates in ten simple sentences the yearly cycle and process of planning, planting, and picking flowers in a garden. Mother and child plant bulbs in fall, order seeds from catalogs in winter, eagerly anticipate the first shoots of spring, select seedlings in summer, ``and watch the rainbow grow,'' reveling in the opulence of color. The power of this book lies in the glowing brilliance and bold abstraction of the double-page collages. Ehlert combines simple, stylized shapes of flat, high intensity color into abstract yet readily identifiable images of plants and flowers while clearly and colorfully labeling each plant on an adjacent garden marker. Children will especially delight in the six pages of varying width depicting all the flowers of each color of the rainbow. A celebration of the garden, the power of shape and color, and the harmony of text and image in a picture book. Pamela Miller Ness, The Fenn School, Concord, Mass. Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition. Review "The stylized representations of flower species are labeled throughout, allowing young children to get an idea of how each flower type contributes to the rainbow effect."--Booklist "A splendid beginning book of colors and flowers cleverly arranged for young readers."--The Horn Book "Young readers will love watching the garden grow."--San Francisco Chronicle "A dazzling celebration . . . of the garden, the power of shape and color, and the harmony of text and image."--School Library Journal