THE NIGHT GARDENER by The Fan Brothers.  New York: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2016. 32p. ISBN 978-1481439787 hc. $17.99    Gr. 1-3    E PIC

Eric and Terry Fan, artists and brothers, open the story wordlessly, letting the illustrations take readers down Grimloch Lane, a bleak neighborhood at best.  Grimloch Orphanage, home to a young boy named William, becomes host to a giant topiary owl that appears overnight.  Each day is followed by a new topiary animal on the lane which begins to attract people to the street; people full of excitement, with smiles on their faces.  After an especially lengthy celebration of the new sculptures William noticed a stranger with gardening tools.  "Under the light of a full moon, they worked deep into the night."  As summer turns to fall and winter and spring, the character of the neighborhood transforms, thanks to William and the night gardener.
Lynette Suckow, Superiorland Preview Center, Marquette, MI