Sometimes, despite our best intentions and hard work, a task is just too great for one person alone. It is an important lesson to learn that asking foSometimes, despite our best intentions and hard work, a task is just too great for one person alone. It is an important lesson to learn that asking for help and working together is not something to be ashamed of and this message is central to the adorable youth graphic novel, The Sprite and the Gardener from Rii Abrego and Joe Whitt. With incredible artwork, this is the story of how sprites used to grow the world’s gardens but stepped aside once humans divided up the land and began their individual gardens. Wisteria moves to town and decides to lend a hand to Elena, a teen girl who can’t seem to get her garden to grow, but will her help be unwelcome and shatter Elena’s confidence or will it lead to a new partnership between humans and sprites. Cute and charming, though a bit slight, this is a very endearing story of gardening, teamwork and friendship that is sure to warm your heart.
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As someone that always disliked group projects in school, I could certainly relate to the aversion to group gardening that trips up the characters in this story. I had been burned so many times where I had to practically do the whole project that it lead me to just wanting to do it all so I could trust it would be done satisfactorily, but in life I’ve learned that this is not the way and a team built on trust and dedication can harness the strengths of many members to become something greater than the sum of its parts. Here, the characters want to do it all themselves as a way to feel good about themselves and their abilities, and there is an implied shame to accepting help. Like myself, this is something they have to unlearn and The Sprite and the Gardnener is a whimsical and imaginative look at how a community working towards a common goal can uplift everyone.
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This was a fun story and I really loved the artwork and how the character’s individual designs fit the plants they were named for. It is a bit brief and one-dimensional, which is fine as it makes for a good message though it wraps up almost too quickly and could have benefitted from a bit more tension to flesh out the story and provide a bit more texture for the reader to latch on to. It is worth is just for the art alone, having a magical cottagecore vibe that fans of series such as The Tea Dragon Society by Kay O'Neill will enjoy. A quick read that will dazzle your eyes and warm your heart.
s.penkevich
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