Grown With Love: A Delightfully Strange Children’s Book Review

There is a balance in illustrated books between being sufficiently weird, but endearing enough to be of merit to adults, educators and parents. Of course there are some books that are straight up gonzo strange, sappy to the point of Hallmark or unicorn happiness to the max. For the most part, those mass-appeal illustrated books that have legs need to be slightly grounded. However, children need them to be a little odd in order to rope in readers and audiences who might otherwise gravitate towards anything else. Grown With Love is just left-of-center enough to bring in aspects any Tim Burton movie, but has the Earthy tones of Up or other entertaining vehicles that subvert a tug at your emotions.

Remember, if it’s too emotional then young readers will check out and think of their parents watching some adult movie (the romantic kind) on television. Grown With Love establishes its weird cred very quickly by introducing Oliver, a kid scientist who kind of resembles a bouffant-coifed person from Whoville. Oliver is a plant grafter, thus he loves plants and has created fauna for many people in town to assist them for their specific needs. The things that he has grafted have been to help people in the instances where they need them the most.

The fact that he’s given the very specific title of plant grafter, gives you an idea of how Grown With Love is attempting to position itself. It wants to be different and respectful of the possible intelligence of its young audience, while telling them a story that’s fun, yet not too deep. Mr. Finch has to deliver the mail regardless of the weather, so Oliver grafted the Climatis Enduris for him. It’s a large umbrella-type plant that allows him to carry two packages simultaneously during inclement weather.

Oliver is capable of creating plant combinations that can grow anywhere and are suited to the individual that he’s giving them to. When he meets Mrs. Kroftombottom, an older woman whose yard is barren and is a plant’s worst enemy, he creates his strongest plant yet. Unfortunately, in short order that daisy meets its doom and Oliver considers that her garden truly is cursed. She invites him inside where he notices that her house is also missing something.

He sees pictures of a younger Mrs. Kroftombottom with Mr. Krotombottom winning competitions for their pies. One year when she’s shown by herself holding a photograph of him. Oliver realizes that people are like plants. Plants need love and care to survive and if she’s lonely then he needs to create an environment where she thrives. He calls up everyone that has received one of his plants and asks them to accompany him to Mrs. Kroftombottom’s house where they gather, talk and have fun. His hypothesis was correct. With this new spirit of love in the air her plants start to thrive, children play in the back yard and she’s forging new friendships with the adults in her neighborhood.

Grown With Love is a slow boil illustrated book that won’t disappoint young readers. It’s charming and sweet, without being sappy or romantic. The book is strange and different, all the while feeling approachable as if Oliver could be a kid who lives down the street from you. He’s a mad kid-scientist who grafts plants, a field that most youth didn’t even know existed, using his STEM skills to bring people together. The text in the book compliments the illustrations with just enough details and restraint to allow the other to fill in the blank context clues.

When the shrubs are created to keep the pet in the back yard we see a depressed dog looking at the bone and toy that are being held by the shrubbery. A woman with back problems is gifted an octopus-like plant that can do chores around the house. Thus it’s frustrating for Oliver to be unable to solve her problem. He’s concentrating exclusively on the variables that he’s used to controlling and not looking at everything that could be to impact the outcome.

Grown With Love has a message that kids will think about, but it’s not obvious or annoying. It’s the minute touches of odd that make the book more complete. The science-fiction angle of a mad kid-scientist using their skills to make the world a better place is a fun concept to think about too.

There are lots of little details that add up in Grown With Love to form a complete and entertaining illustrated book. Its title has font that shows paint lines. The lush illustrations sometimes occupy the pages from corner to corner, while other times using negative space to drive a deeper emotional impact. These aspects might not be picked up on by those young readers initially, they’ll just think that they’re enjoying a great book, which they are. Grown With Love is the sort of illustrated book ages four through seven will really enjoy. They might not immediately know why they’re enjoying it. It could be the short, abbreviated story that leaves a lot to the imagination or the creepy, but friendly art. This is an illustrated book that’s great for the story time crowd, but will also spend time one-on-one with those young readers who want to obsess over the illustrations.

Grown With Love is by Valeria Wicker and is available on McElderry Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster.

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