Gardens are special places — spiritual places — because they engage our senses, evoke our sense of wonder, bathe us in beauty, and connect us to a wider nonhuman world. A garden can be a place of play and transformation. It is a setting where we can celebrate both The Mystery and our own larger being.

George Ancona is an award-winning author and photographer of more than 100 books for children, many about the arts and different cultures. In this winning work for children ages 5 - 8 years, he looks at the efforts of boys and girls attending Acequia Madre Elementary School in Santa Fe, New Mexico, as they work together for a year on a garden during the changing seasons. Photographs show their activities as they do composting, plant seeds in the greenhouse, raise butterflies, and harvest crops. The garden becomes a community center for various gatherings.

Ancona conveys the many ways gardens can be places of nurturing, play and transformation.