Gardening: April Showers Bring May Flowers    Whether you have 40 acres or a balcony flower box, planting a field of sunflowers or a single tomato plant can be an extraordinarily rewarding experience. Gardens are a source of pleasure for some, an indispensible necessity for others, and the basic income resource for many people around the earth. In an effort to extend the growing season, many people have green houses or walled gardens to capture extra warmth for treasured flowers, fruits and vegetables. “There are more greenhouses per capita in Britain than in any other country in the world.” (quoted from The Curious Gardener’s Almanac by Niall Edworthy) In other habitats gardens grow rampantly year round, granting gardeners opportunities for several crops. Many cities provide garden plots for public use—these highly prized plots are quickly claimed by those who long to dig in the dirt and watch things grow. Giving children the pleasure of watching the amazing process of growing and reaping their own food and flowers is one of the true delights of adults who live and work with youngsters. Chose from the following selections to inspire your own instincts to tend to “growing things”--discover fun and facts in abundance. Reviews Flower Garden Eve Bunting Illustrated by Kathryn Hewitt    In an oversized board book (referred to as a lap book), a young girl and her dad are off shopping. In addition to food, they purchase daffodils, tulips, daisies, and pansies--all in bloom. Dad lugs the groceries, and our young girl handles the flowers. It is pretty tiring riding the bus and walking up the stairs to their apartment; she shows it by plopping down while dad opens the door. Then, they create a flowerbox for their window ledge. It is a bright display of beautiful colors. What happens next is a nice surprise: candles are lit on a cake and what a wonderful surprise awaits mom--a garden box, just for her. It is a delightful story showing a city-dwelling family determined to bring the beauty of spring flowers into their home and neighborhood. It is also wonderful to see such a nice relationship between father and daughter and among all member of this family. 2008 (orig. 1994), Red Wagon/Harcourt, $10.95. Ages 2 to 4. Reviewer: Marilyn Courtot (Children's Literature). ISBN: 978-0-15-206516-4 Friends and Flowers Jessica Gunderson Illustrated by Cori Doerrfeld    This title, part of the “Read-It! Readers Science” series (Green Level) deals with the issues of the loss of a friend (moving), patience, growth in nature, and making new friends. Before Julia’s family moves away, she gives Lindsey, her next door neighbor “best friend,” a tulip bulb to remember her by. Lindsey and Julia had greatly enjoyed the flower garden together. Lindsey looks forward to the bulb growing but is sad about the loss of her friend. With reassurance from her mother that she would make a new friend, Lindsey plants the bulb and patiently waits for spring. On most of pages there is an inset with botanical information about the growth of bulbs. The cartoonlike illustrations augment the story line and reveal what is happening to the bulb developing underground. Of course, as the tulip blooms a new neighbor moves in next door--a girl Lindsey’s age who announces that “I love flowers.” The perfect ending is just right for this level of reader. No special emphasis is placed on the fact that the families are of different races (African American and Caucasian)--they are just neighbors and friends. The efforts of various animals to eat the bulb provide a humorous moment, as well as the good advice to use hot sauce to make the bulb unappetizing to the rabbits and squirrels. The Green Level books incorporate more complex ideas, vocabulary, and sentence structure. 2008, Picture Window Books, $19.93. Ages 4 to 7. Reviewer: Sheilah Egan (Children's Literature).    Lindsey and Julia are best friends with a common love of gardening. One day Julia tells Lindsay she is moving. Julia gives Lindsey a tulip bulb to remember her by. Lindsey misses Julia terribly. She plants the tulip bulb before winter and waits for it to bloom. She wonders if she will ever find another special friend like Julia. As the tulip blooms, another friendship begins to blossom. This book is part of the green level in the “Read-it! Readers: Science” series. This level presents more complex ideas and extended vocabulary utilizing an expanded language structure. Both content information and reading skill development are addressed. Children will learn facts about plants and gardening and utilize the language and pictures to problem-solve for information. Several pages in the book include text boxes that contain scientific information about plants and gardening. A plant- growing activity, glossary, and a chart containing the life cycle of a bulb are also included. In addition, the author offers other book suggestions and web sites related to the book. Children will enjoy the story and illustrations while learning about gardening. 2008, Picture Window Books/Coughlan Publishing Company, $14.95. Ages 5 to 8. Reviewer: Melissa Hower (Children's Literature). ISBN: 978-1-4048-2291-7 ISBN: 1-4048-2291-7 Fruits Vijaya Khisty Bodach    Fruits produce and protect the seeds formed by the plants. This is a beautiful book with huge colorful close-up illustrations that depict fruits and their assortment of seeds. Bright red raspberries with their tiny hard seeds, a slice of melon with hundreds of seeds, and the huge single seed in a peach show how diverse a seed can be. The photographs are just right for bringing fruit up close so each detail can be easily consumed by the reader. Readers will come away from this story full of questions as to the how and why of fruits. Fruits is written with early readers in mind; it has a carefully controlled vocabulary with short repetitive sentences. The text corresponds to national science standards making Fruits an ideal choice for a first exposure to informational text. It is complete with a table of contents, a glossary, titles, highlighted vocabulary, labeled diagrams, and an index. Internet references send readers to facthound.com with a book ID number to help them locate other safe Internet sites related to fruits. Fruits is just one of the books in this early reader series; other titles highlight different parts of the plant: seeds, stems, leaves, and roots. Each book in this series focuses on one main part of the plant yet culminates in a way that ensures that the reader understands that each plant part is vital and that they must all work together to enable a plant to grow and thrive. 2007, Capstone Press, $19.93. Ages 5 to 8. Reviewer: Kathy Leggett (Children's Literature). ISBN: 978-0-7368-6343-8 ISBN: 0-7368-6343-5 In My Backyard Margriet Ruurs Illustrated by Ron Broda    We are welcomed to a backyard that is “a busy place--all year round.” As spring arrives, a young wren sings, toads call; snail, spiders, and snakes make their presence known. Wasps build their nest, baby birds clamor for food, butterflies dance by day, bats soar at night. As winter approaches, possums dig in the compost pile, and baby mice sleep in their nest. With just a brief sentence or two per double page, Ruurs vividly sets the scene for Broda’s amazingly realistic depiction of the creatures in their natural settings, all done with paper sculpture. On one page he provides a full-color scene of the animal or insect in action, mostly in the pursuit of food. On the facing page is a vignette created in gray tones, a close-up of some activity such as a wasps building a multi-chambered nest or a hummingbird feeding its young. An added visual feature is the challenge to find a ladybug and a “preview” of the next page in each scene. The final spread is a view of a garden that might well be the spot for all the previous events. More information on each included creature, plus steps to make a garden attractive to them, follows the last illustration. 2007, Tundra Books, $18.95. Ages 3 to 8. Reviewers: Ken Marantz and Sylvia Marantz (Children's Literature).    This interactive book invites children and adults to share the joys of discovery. The opening pages present a monochromatic view of the back of a house and its yard. Each of the following double-page spreads then focuses on one detail in that yard. A wren is shown on the left side of the next layout in shades of gray accompanied by a brief text. The facing page in full color features the wren in front of a red birdhouse in a large flowering tree overlooking a pond with a swimming duck. A tiny ladybug is hidden in each illustration. In addition, readers are invited to look for clues in each picture about the creature that will be featured when the pages are turned. The toad on a rock is the subject of the next facing pages. This format continues with introductions of snails, spiders, hummingbirds, snakes, wasps, swallows, butterflies, bats, opossums, and mice. The closing spread shows a boy and girl looking out the window of the house observing the backyard in full color. Factual information about each of the creatures appears in the back, and readers are then given suggestions for nurturing wildlife in their own backyards. The appeal of this book is in Broda’s detailed paper sculpture illustrations. They are beautiful in both the single-color and full-color formats. This is a book for one-on-one sharing. Finding the clues and the ladybugs requires close-up concentration. 2007, Tundra Books, $18.95. Ages 4 to 7. Reviewer: Phyllis Kennemer, Ph.D. (Children's Literature). ISBN: 978-0-88776-775-3 On Meadowview Street Henry Cole    When Caroline and her family move to Meadowview Street, she searches in vain for any meadow. Caroline is an environmentalist at heart. First, she protects a small flower in the lawn from her father’s mower. Soon, her “wildflower preserve” covers the entire lawn. Agreeing that her garden needs shade, her parents add a maple tree. Caroline and her father then build birdhouses for the birds in the tree. By the time they have added a pond, the neighbors have begun to change their yards as well, making friendly homes for nature’s flowers and creatures. This modern, simply-told tale is visualized in acrylic paintings that are positive in their simplified naturalism. There is neither weed nor hole-digging dog in this suburban development of identical houses and fences. Vignettes depict Caroline and her family’s activities clearly enough to be used as instructions for creating “meadows.” A double-page spread just before the end depicts and names the many inhabitants to be found in Caroline’s meadow. 2007, Greenwillow Books/HarperCollins Publishers, $17.89. Ages 4 to 8. Reviewers: Ken Marantz and Sylvia Marantz (Children's Literature). ISBN: 978-0-06-056481-0 ISBN: 0-06-056481-4 ISBN: 978-0-06-056482-7 ISBN: 0-06-056482-2 Out and About at the Greenhouse Bitsy Kemper Illustrated by Zachary Trover    This book is written as though you are taking a tour of a greenhouse with an elementary school class. The Horticulturist takes the children around the various areas while describing the greenhouse. Children will learn what a greenhouse is, what grows there, what keeps it warm inside and why we need greenhouses. The illustrations provide clarification and help children understand the significance of a greenhouse. In the right hand corner of most pages there is a notepad that has additional information about the greenhouse. Also, the book provides information about different types of plants. At the conclusion of the tour there is an experiment for older children. There is also a glossary and a section for fun facts. This could be a good book for a child who is interested in horticulture, or for a class to read together in preparation for a visit to a greenhouse or botanical garden. 2006, Picture Window Books, $25.26. Ages 4 to 9. Reviewer: Nicole Peterson (Children's Literature). ISBN: 1-4048-2279-8 ISBN: 978-1-4048-2279-5 A Poet's Bird Garden Laura Nyman Montenegro    Author-Illustrator Montenegro takes her inspiration from Vincent van Gough’s painting of the same name as she creates a story of escape and enticement. When young Natalie opens her pet bird’s cage, Chirpie flies out into the garden and becomes lost to human eye. Natalie implores help from Monica, who in turn calls the poets. Priyanka, Vincent, Lily, and Pendleton arrive with Marion in their wake. Each adult has a different idea of how to lure the little bundle of feathers back to safety. One amusing full-page spread illustrates the concerned neighbors each demonstrating how to attract Chirpie to come back home. Marion stills all the commotion with her notion to think like a bird. Still no action rewards the collection of creative minds. However, all ends well as Chirpie and some feathered friends partake of the rewards placed in the garden as incentive for the vagrant to return. Sparse, sometimes-rhyming text and colorful, splashy illustrations make this an ideal story of cross-generation friendship in which neighbors of diverse ethnicity sharing ideas for the safety of a small, defenseless pet. 2007, Farrar Straus Giroux, $16.00. Ages 6 to 10. Reviewer: Janice DeLong (Children's Literature). ISBN: 978-0-374-36038-2 ISBN: 0-374-36038-3 The Secret Garden Frances Hodgson Burnett Illustrated by Inga Moore    Exquisite ink and watercolor illustrations grace this beautiful edition of the classic story of two children who are given all the material goods available. A young girl, Mary, who has foot-stomping tantrums when she does not get her way, and a young lad, Colin, who has been convinced he is ill and takes out his ill humor on those around him, are thrown together, and their lives are forever changed. Mary, who has come to live with relatives after the death of her parents, explores the mysteries of Misselthwaite Manor, the estate which is the home of her Uncle Archibald Craven and his son, Colin. She is befriended by Dickon, the brother of her housemaid and comes to share his love of nature. She finds the key to a secret garden on the estate, and Dickon teaches her how to tend a garden. Both she and Colin bloom right along with the flowers. The tale is magical, mystical, and idealistic. Many of the children who read it will long for a special, hidden-away spot of their own, a longing that will remain with them even as some details of the story may fade. 2008 (orig. 2007), Candlewick Press, $21.99. Ages 7 to 14. Reviewer: Carolyn Mott Ford (Children's Literature). ISBN: 978-0-7636-3161-1 ISBN: 0-7636-3161-2 Seeds Vijaya Khisty Bodach    Large or small, all seeds grow into amazing plants. This beautiful book has colorful close-up illustrations that depict seeds in a natural state. The floating seeds of a dandelion, the bright green seeds of a peapod, and the crunchy seeds inside a sunflower all deliver an effective message about the importance of seeds. This is a nice big book that is just right for small hands and curious minds. Seeds is written with early readers in mind; it has a carefully controlled vocabulary with short repetitive sentences. The text corresponds to national science standards making Seeds an ideal choice for a first informational text. It contains all the components of a nonfiction text: a table of contents, glossary, titles, highlighted vocabulary, labeled diagrams, and an index. In addition, Internet references send readers to facthound.com with a book ID number to help them locate safe Internet sites related to the book topic. Seeds is just one of the books in this early reader series; other titles highlight different parts of the plant: fruits, stems, leaves, and roots. Each book in this series focuses on one plant part yet culminates in a way that ensures that the reader understands that each plant part is vital and that they must all work together to enable a plant to grow and thrive. 2007, Capstone Press, $19.93. Ages 5 to 8. Reviewer: Kathy Leggett (Children's Literature). ISBN: 978-0-7368-6346-9 ISBN: 0-7368-6346-X The Sunflower Farmer Jessica Gunderson Illustrated by Ryan Haugen    The Sunflower Farmer is a beginner reader about a boy who wants to be a farmer like his grandfather. He is determined to follow in his grandfather’s footsteps. He visits the older man every week and listens to stories about his grandfather’s farm days. Troy finds out weather can help or damage crops. Although Troy’s grandfather doesn’t farm anymore, he still owns farmland. One day, Troy’s mother takes him to visit the farm. Troy admires the sunflowers and wants to grow some in his backyard, so he gathers seeds from the flowers to take home. In the spring, Troy plants the seeds in a garden he has prepared. Then he waits and waits for the seeds to grow into flowers. But it takes a long time, and when Troy tells his grandfather, the response is that farming takes patience. The plants begin to grow, then are threatened by the weather. Will they ever bloom? Colorful illustrations, short sidebars, directions on how to grow sunflowers, a glossary, further reading, and website are included. The author has told a story of family relationships, while educating readers about life science, weather, and sunflowers. 2008, Picture Window Books, $19.23. Ages 5 to 7. Reviewer: Della A. Yannuzzi (Children's Literature). ISBN: 978-1-4048-2293-1 ISBN: 1-4048-2293-3 Up, Down & Around Katherine Ayres Illustrated by Nadine Bernard Westcott    Two little kids and a man, plus many animal observers, head out to their garden and plant some seeds. They water them, and then corn grows up, carrots grow down, And cucumbers climb around and around. Peppers grow up through various vegetables growing on vines, under the soil, or sticking up to be plucked. The underground vegetables are shown (with bugs crawling around and a mole taking a nap in its hole) in cutaway drawings, so children will be able to get an idea just what’s going on there in the garden. The cartoony illustrations are excellent, with all sorts of garden animals running around (and eating the vegetables, despite the scarecrow), and plenty of color and movement adding to the liveliness of this book. This would be a great addition to a classroom segment on gardening, or for a family to read together before doing planting in their own garden. 2007, Candlewick Press, $16.99. Ages 2 to 6. Reviewer: Sara Lorimer (Children's Literature). ISBN: 978-0-7636-2378-4 ISBN: 0-7636-2378-4 The Vegetables We Eat Gail Gibbons    Eat your vegetables! Why? Because they are nutritious, taste good, and help keep our bodies strong and healthy. How many times have we all heard this? Probably too many to count. With this simple book that delineates the eight groups of vegetables (leaf, bulb, flower bud, root, tuber, stem, fruit, seed), children and adults alike may take more kindly to their vegetable friends. Not only are the vegetables described in detail but also the many ways in which they are grown and distributed. The text at the bottom of each page is large and straightforward in its delivery with smaller fact boxes that give specific details throughout. Delightfully colorful watercolor-and-ink illustrations cover the remainder of each page; perfectly accompanying the text. This book is an excellent match for the intended age group and would be just as appropriate in an elementary or middle school library as in a doctor’s/nutritionist’s office or a home library. The author lives in Vermont and has published over 135 books. Highly recommended. 2007, Holiday House, $16.95. Ages 4 to 8. Reviewer: Cindy L. Carolan (Children's Literature). ISBN: 978-0-8234-2001-8 ISBN: 0-8234-2001-9 When Ruby Tried to Grow Candy Valorie Fisher    Ruby suspects that the mysterious lady next door is “monstrous and mean.” So she fears going over the fence to retrieve her lost ball. When she encounters Miss Wysterious, however, she also discovers a strange garden where cups grow on trees. Miss Wysterious, far from frightening, gives Ruby jellybeans with planting instructions. Since she is never allowed candy, Ruby happily nibbles as she plants, and although she thinks they cannot possibly grow, she returns to water and help tend the unusual garden. Her results are both amazing and delicious. The leafy vines of the title page reach around to help frame the text throughout. The two characters are painted crisply and flatly, almost as cartoons. They contrast sharply with the setting of a fuzzy-foliaged garden with collage-like flowers and the odd objects hanging from the trees. The final scenes of the assorted candies in the flowerbeds add to the overall sweetness of the fairy tale. 2008, A Schwartz & Wade Book/Random House Children’s Books, $16.99. Ages 4 to 8. Reviewers: Ken Marantz and Sylvia Marantz (Children's Literature). ISBN: 978-0-375-94015-6 ISBN: 978-0-375-84015-9 ISBN: 0-375-94015-4 ISBN: 0-375-84015-X To view Gardening features from previous years, click one of the following links: 2007. To stay up to date on new books on this topic, consider subscribing to The Children's Literature Comprehensive Database. For your free trial, click here. Updated 6/17/2008