Pat Zietlow Miller, "In Our Garden" (G.P. Putnam's Sons, 2022)

Summary

In our interview Pat Zietlow Miller and I talk about her path to fame and fortune as a children's author, the story behind her classic (and premier) children's book, Sophie's Squash, and her advice to aspiring writers. We are also celebrating the very recent (three weeks ago) launch of her new book,

In our Garden (G.P. Putnam's Sons, 2022) is an uplifting classroom tale about students who create a vegetable garden on their school's rooftop.

Millie has recently moved to a new city, from a place more than an ocean away. More than anything she misses the garden where her family used to grow food. Then one day she has an idea—the school has a fine flat roof, perfect for a garden. Soon her teacher and classmates are on board, but it takes more than ideas to build a garden. It takes supplies and hard work; it takes a lot of learning; and it takes a whole school—a whole community—coming together to help. And of course, it also takes a lot of waiting. But as Millie's teacher Miss Mirales says, “Be patient. Good things take time.”

From building the beds and planting the seeds to the first glorious harvest, here's the story of a garden—and a girl—in bloom, and what it takes for a new place to finally feel like home.

Your Host

Mel Rosenberg

Mel Rosenberg is a professor emeritus of microbiology (Tel Aviv University) who fell in love with children's books as a small child in Ottawa and now writes his own. He is co-founder of Ourboox, a web platform with over 260,000 ebooks that allows anyone to create and share flipbooks comprising text, pictures and videos.

He is represented by the Liza Royce Agency.
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