Gardening, Part 2

So...the basil has been planted, and the hydrangeas (blue--but I can never remember what that means about the soil its in!) and Easter lily are blooming in the backyard. And, I never got around to planting a garden...not even tomatoes. 

Luckily, as one reader noted in a response to last week's blog, Groundhog, from How Groundhog's Garden Grew, doesn't have the same problem as I do! Once Squirrel points out that he should grow his own garden rather than eating out of someone else's, together they plan for and successfully grow a beautiful garden. Lynne Cherry's beautiful illustrations do double duty as they both portray Groundhog and Squirrel's actions in the primary 2-page spreads  and identify seeds, sprouts, insects, and even the development of some plants from flower to fruit (or vegetable, as the case may be) in a way that frames a number of the main illustrations. The endpapers are not to be missed, either as they show a number of plants from seed to mature plant. Cherry's Author's Note offers more information on children's gardening and invites students to send a self-addressed stamped envelope to the address for even more. The only tricky thing about this book is its reliance on anthropomorphism. It is critical to point out what is "real" (most vegetables grow from seeds, insects help pollinate the flowers, etc.) and what is not (squirrels helping groundhogs plant gardens) to young children in particular. Despite the fact that these things appear obvious to adult readers, there is some research that suggests students can easily take away inaccurate messages from "story" books that attempt to convey science concepts. In a nutshell, this is a great book, but you have to be very thoughtful about using it to teach about gardening.

If you're looking for another gardening book for older students (grades 3 and up), I would suggest The Good Garden: How One family Went from Hunger to Having Enough, by Katie Smith Milway. The story is about a young Honduran girl, Maria Luz Duarte, and her family, who have a small plot of land where they grow their own food. However, their plot has "gone bad," and the family is struggling to grow their much needed food.  Then, Don Pedro (based on the real-life Don Elias Sanchez) arrives as the new teacher at Maria Luz's school, and he shows them how to use compost and terraces to grow their own food and encourages them to sell their own food at market, thus turning around their formerly failing garden and others around it. The afterword tells about Don Elias Sanchez, hunger, and help around the world...and can provide stimulus for talking about issues like independence, poverty, hunger, and economics which are related to, but beyond the scope of gardening, per se. Katie has even done an interview about the book, which is one of the books in the Kids Can Press "Citizen Kid" series...a few of which will be highlighted in future blogs!

Gardening, Part 1

As I was sitting outside this morning, soaking up the sun and trying to hit the halfway point in the 5th book in the Game of Thrones series, I realized that the five basil plants we bought last week had still not made it into the garden (thank goodness for rain. . . ). Of course, that made me think of the garden I would like to have, if I had any hint of green in my thumb, and led me to search my bookshelf for good garden books. I found a few worth sharing...

The first two, both written by Deborah Hodge, photographed by Brian Harris, and published by Kids Can Press, make a great combo, with Up We Grow! documenting a year on small farm and Watch Me Grow!, highlighting city gardening.

Up We Grow! is structured around the seasons and information is presented through two levels of text: the primary "story" of the small farm, the people who run it, and its animals and crops, and the information found in smaller green boxes that discusses more general information like "Caring for the Land" or "Caring for Our Food." The text is supplemented by bright photographs depicting all aspects of the farm and simple questions like, "Do you have a compost bin?" and "Is there a farmer's market where you live?" are scattered throughout. While this book could be used as an interactive read aloud (even in small parts), the text is simple enough that a fairly fluent 2nd grader and most 3rd graders could read it independently.


Watch Me Grow! is structured around the ideas of growing, sharing, eating, and caring. The book shows different places (windowsills, backyards, rooftops, etc.) and kinds of gardens--including caring for chickens and honeybees. (Yes! I realize that's not really "gardening," but it's still in the book--and interesting!)  The green boxes highlight items like "Sharing your Garden" and "Growing an Herb Garden", and lots of kid are pictured helping work, cook, and eat.

Both books have a page of brief information at the back--one providing a little more information on sustainable farms and the other on urban agriculture, and both would be very useful for talking about life science (needs of living things, habitats, life cycles, etc.)--and even a little bit of social studies (rural vs. urban, communities, etc.). And, both could be particularly inspiring for those kids who, unlike me, DO have green thumbs!