Suzette and Nicholas in the Garden

I don't know how the days flow by so fast but before I know it weeks are gone!  And it seems Winter is not ready to loosen it's hold.  Even I, a cold weather lover, have had enough!  So for yet ANOTHER day without sun, threatening of sleet and snow, here's a pretty picture book to escape into.

Suzette and Nicholas in the Garden

Satomi Ichikawa 1986

Maybe it's the children's names, but the story feels European to me- I'm imagining some country house in France.  It's also written in present tense (like the Babar books).  Three children explore the garden around their home. They admire flowers, find the vegetable patch, see bees at work gathering nectar, and watch the goldfish in the pond.

At one point brother and sister sit on the garden wall and Nicholas explains about the wide world beyond their garden.

This is too much for Suzette to understand.  She will think about the world another time.  For the moment the garden is big enough.  'Let's go in and have tea,' she says.  'I feel like some toast and honey.'

Sometimes I feel just like Suzette!