Lydia Grace Finch brings a suitcase full of seeds to the big gray city, where she goes to stay with her Uncle Jim, a cantankerous baker. There she initiates a gradual transformation, bit by bit brightening the shop and bringing smiles to customers' faces with the flowers she grows. But it is in a secret place that Lydia Grace works on her masterpiece -- an ambitious rooftop garden -- which she hopes will make even Uncle Jim smile.

 

Sarah Stewart introduces readers to an engaging and determined young heroine, whose story is told through letters written home, while David Small's illustrations beautifully evoke the Depression-era setting.

 

The Gardener is a 1997 New York Times Book Review Notable Children's Book of the Year and a 1998 Caldecott Honor Book.

凱迪克獎（The Caldecott Medal），是由美國圖書館協會所頒發的兒童繪本大獎。1938年創立。
 

獎項的目的在於獎勵前一年度出版的「給兒童的美國最傑出繪本」，選出一個金牌獎及數個榮譽（銀牌）獎，榮譽獎的數量通常為二至五個。

 

要獲得凱迪克獎的參選資格，作品必須先以英語在美國出版，且擔任插圖繪製的插畫家須為美國公民或居民。
 

評審團在評選書籍時，是以在兒童理解力為前提下，圖畫是否能完整表達出故事的主題或概念為考量重點，但書籍其他部分（文本、裝禎設計等）也會列入考慮，無需考慮該書的教育及通俗性。