Alice's family plants a vegetable garden each spring, and this budding naturalist reports all she sees about how the plants grow, what insects come to eat the plants, and what birds and animals come to eat the insects.  It's the food chain, right in her own backyard!

While Alice's narrative is simple and engaging, science concepts are presented in more depth in sidebars by a pair of very knowledgeable (and highly amusing) chickens! Noted science writer Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld knows how to layer information to make it accessible to a wide range of readers and useful for educators. And illustrator Priscilla Lamont's funny, friendly paintings make this a garden everyone will want to explore.

Kids will eat up this wonderful book of backyard science—and perhaps they'll even be inspired to eat their vegetables!

Starred Review, School Library Journal, February 1, 2012:
“The book will raise readers’ awareness of backyard food chains and encourage some students to try gardening themselves.”

Starred Review, Kirkus Reviews, November 15, 2011:
""Zoehfeld’s latest is a wonderfully informative and enjoyable journey through one family’s backyard garden, from spring planting to fall harvest. Covering a dazzling array of topics, the author still manages to hold onto a story line that will draw readers in and allow them to experience both the good and the bad right along with narrator Alice. Sure to become a standard go-to for elementary teachers and gardeners alike, this is bound to spark some backyard explorations.""

Booklist, March 15, 2012:
""A natural for young gardeners, this picture book is also an appealing addition to classroom units on food chains.""

Publishers Weekly, January 9, 2012:
""Filled with humorous, cozy, and informative details. This intimate portrait of a single garden points to how all ecosystems are connected.""