Books of the week Oct. 6

Special to the Enquirer

Title: “Leota’s Garden” 

Author: Francine Rivers 

Leota is an 84-year-old widow who has been all but abandoned by her children over a misunderstanding; yet, she doesn’t give up hope they will one day turn toward her and renew their relationship.   

Until then, she can only watch the news in disgust and remember when she was able to keep up her beautiful garden.   

When the simple task of going to the grocery store becomes too much, she calls the number of a senior citizen volunteer hotline. Corban is assigned to Leota, with the ulterior motive of using her in a case study for his sociology class.    

Around the same time, her granddaughter shows up at her door looking to get to know her for who she is – and not for the stories she has heard from her mother all her life.   

Leota sees the arrival of Annie as an answer to prayer, and they dive into getting to know one another. As the months go by, they become close as they work together to bring her garden back to life. Before long, they have made friends with people in the neighborhood and started to rebuild their community.   

Annie’s mother is none too pleased with her decision to spend so much time with the woman she so resents and makes her grievances known.   

Leota is in poor health and desperate to get through to her children before her time is up. Will all her prayers for reconciliation go unanswered?   

This book is a lesson on the importance of family relationships and the power of prayer.   

Special to the Enquirer

Title: “The Little Butterfly That Could” 

Author and Illustrator: Ross Burach 

Age Level: 4-8-year-olds 

This fun, spastic butterfly is trying to meet up with his butterfly friends, who have all flown far away to find flowers to eat.  

Butterfly gets turned around, but with the help of a friendly whale, he gets back on track. However, Butterfly is discouraged because he has 200 miles to go.  

He starts to get anxious and worry he can’t fly that far. Whale encourages him along the way and helps Butterfly find his friends.  

Kids will love how crazy Butterfly acts about how far he has to fly. Butterfly is a little bit of a worrywart – which kids can relate to when they get concerned about whether or not they can achieve a task.  

With a friend like Whale, Butterfly is encouraged and keeps his mind focused on his goal.  

Come check out Butterfly’s adventures and more at the library!