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!
