Sophie lives in the city, and her vegetables come from the supermarket. Then she goes to visit her grandparents in the countryside and soon discovers how much there is to learn about how things grow. Sophie helps her grandfather through the different seasons, finding out about mulching onions, eating flowers, weeding, bees, making salad, catching beetles, digging, earthing up, picking and composting. When winter comes, Sophie has to go home but her grandfather has one last surprise for her. This is a wonderful book for children to learn about allotment or vegetable gardening through Sophie's eager and questioning eyes. Gerda Muller's characterful illustrations accurately depict the garden and its plants through spring, summer, autumn and winter.