INSPIRING GRAND GARDENS
GRANDYCAMP: Gardening With Kids One of my favorite gardening stories is from Frog and Toad Together by Arnold Lobel. Toad, frustrated that his seeds weren’t growing immediately, read poems and a long story to his seeds. He tried singing and music too, until they finally popped up. I used to do an accelerated reading program with first graders, and had them completely smitten with planting and reading to quick-growing bean seeds (they were to report which stories made the beans grow faster at the end of the week). Played the same trick with my Grands with wheat grass seeds that pop up in about 48 hours. So fun.
We have gone on to plant rainbow gardens, mini pumpkins, and a Dino garden - planting Dino bones in the soil to excavate at the end of the season, arranging and rearranging Dino families among the growing crops. A T-Rex makes a roar-some scarecrow!
Curl up with our “Reader’s Dozen”of inspiring picture books while waiting for the ground to thaw. Some Grandmas try the library first to see which books are asked for over and over – these are well-loved best bets we’ve used in the classroom and purchased for our Grands! Long-distance grandmas could send along seed packets and small gardening tools with a few books, looking to forward to lots of Facetime conversation about crop progress! We have included Amazon Affiliate links that support Grandycamp with a small return at no cost to you.
And Then It’s Spring by Julie Fogliano, illus. by Erin. E. Stead. Ages 4-7. Following a snow-filled winter, a young boy and his dog decide they've had enough of all the brown and plant a garden. They dig, they plant, they play, they wait . . . and wait . . . the forlorn animal expressions speak volumes here, but a little fantasy mixes in to brighten the spirits. At last, the brown becomes a more hopeful shade, a sign that spring may finally be on its way.
Lola Plants a Garden by Anna McQuinn, illus. by Rosalind Beardshaw. Ages 2-5. Lola is inspired by a collection of garden poems to plant her own garden of beautiful flowers, so she and Mommy go to the library to check out books about gardening. They choose flowers and seeds, dig and plant, and wait. Lola finds it hard to wait for her flowers to grow, but she spends the time creating her own flower book. She soon has a garden full of sunflowers and invites her friends for cakes and punch, and a story amongst the flowers.
My Garden by Kevin Henkes. Ages 2-7. This girl’s garden grows as big as her imagination after helping her Mom weed and water - "In my garden, rabbits wouldn't eat the lettuce because the rabbits would be chocolate and I would eat them." Jellybeans would grow on bushes. Tomatoes would be the size of beach balls, but "carrots would be invisible because I don't like carrots!" A garden is where ideas grow.
The Tiny Seed by Eric Carle. Ages 3-8. Eric Carle’s classic story of the life cycle of a flower is told, in a charmingly tiny book (5x7”), through the adventures of a tiny seed. This mini-book includes a piece of detachable seed-embedded paper housed on the inside front cover. Readers can plant the entire piece of paper and watch as their very own tiny seeds grow into beautiful wildflowers. MUST HAVE – We like tiny everything!
Lois Ehlert’s Growing Garden Gift Set of Planting a Rainbow, Growing Vegetable Soup, Eating the Alphabet by Lois Ehlert. Ages 4-7. Color explodes from Ehlert’s bold, beautiful cut-paper collages like seeds from an over-ripe pod. Three gift-sized editions of her beloved hardcover picture books—Eating the Alphabet (not planting, but a glossary of fruits and vegetables to try), Planting a Rainbow (a concept book about colors and different flowers), and Growing Vegetable Soup (including a recipe!)—are packaged in a lovely slipcase with a 16" x 22" flower-garden poster - a splash of springtime!
To Be Like the Sun by Susan Marie Swanson, illus. Margaret Chodos-Irvine Ages 3-7. “Hello, little seed. . . Do you really know everything / about sunflowers?” With lyrical lines of poetry and exuberant, uncluttered art, this picture book follows a young girl from the planting of the seed, with “instructions that are written in its heart”, to the emerging bud. Finally, the sunflower blooms “You’ve made your own sun / up over my head.”
If You Plant a Seed, Kadir Nelson. Ages 4-8. A fuzzy, brown rabbit and a tiny mouse plant tomato, carrot, and cabbage seeds and wait for the plants to grow and produce. They sit in the rain, nap, and read books as they wait. The sky fills with birds, which the rabbit and mouse don't see until the fruits—or vegetables—of their labor are ready to eat. Seeds of cooperation and kindness must be planted to share the bounty.
A Seed is Sleepy by Dianna Hutts Aston, illus. by Sylvia Long. Ages 5-8. A beautiful and informative look at the intricate, complex, and often surprising world of seeds. Poetic in voice and elegant in design, the book introduces children to a fascinating array of seed and plant facts, making it perfect reading material for home or classroom.
Up in the Garden and Down in the Dirt by Kate Messner, illus. by Christopher Silas Neal. Ages 8-12. A young girl learns from her grandmother that the soil is still too cold and wet in early spring to begin planting. They make plans while earthworms and insects prepare the dirt. The pair tend to the garden, weeding, watering, and keeping away pests, and later harvesting vegetables Up in the garden, the world is full of green—leaves and sprouts, growing vegetables, ripening fruit. But down in the dirt there is a busy world of earthworms digging, snakes hunting, skunks burrowing, and all the other animals that make a garden their home.
Planting the Wild Garden by Katheryn O. Galbraith, illus. by Wendy Anderson Halperin. Ages 4-8. Eloquent text and illustrations combine to explore the many ways seeds are distributed. A farmer and her son carefully plant seeds in their garden. In the wild garden, many seeds are planted too, but not by farmers’ hands. Animals transport seeds, often without knowing it. Sometimes rain washes seeds to a new location. And sometimes extraordinary happenings scatter seeds everywhere like popcorn.
The Curious Garden by Peter Brown. Ages 4-8. While out exploring, a little boy discovers a struggling garden and decides to take care of it. As time passes, the garden spreads throughout the dark, gray city, transforming it into a lush, green world. An enchanting tale with environmental themes and breathtaking illustrations that become more vibrant as the garden blooms.
Two Old Potatoes and Me, John Coy, illus. by Carolyn Fisher. Ages 5-8. Told from May to September, the potato-growing season, the story includes all the basic steps for growing potatoes while subtly dealing with the parents' recent divorce. Just like the new potatoes that emerge from ugly old potatoes, this dad and daughter move on and make a new life together in the face of unavoidable and unpleasant change.
Grandma’s Gardens by Hillary and Chelsea Clinton, illus. by Carme Lemniscates (to be published March 31,2020) Ages 4-8. Including before seeing, because it is about Grandma Dorothy sharing her love of gardens with her daughter and granddaughter. “She believed that gardens are magical places to learn, exciting spaces for discovery, quiet spots to spend time with family, and beautiful areas to share stories and celebrate.”
For a STEM approach, author Jenny Hendy has two books with lots of projects and clear, instructive photos. Gardening Projects for Kids, Ages 8-12. Fantastic ideas for making things, growing plants and flowers, and attracting wildlife to the garden, with 60 practical projects and 500 photographs. The Best-Ever Step-by-Step Kid's First Gardening, ages 6-14. More than 120 garden-related projects from edible treats and flower power to craft projects, wildlife gardening and indoor gardening, as well as a directory of popular plants. Make a wormery, make a monster pumpkin pet, grow a flower rainbow and dogwood stars, go bananas and grow a grasshead man. Includes an informative introduction covering all the basics, from safety, equipment, essential techniques and a guide to commonly used gardening terms to learning all about plants.
- Karen Ritz, creator of www.GrandyCamp.info – website and social for active, busy grandparents, B.S. Children’s Literature and Illustration, University of Minnesota, illustrator of 46 children’s books, and “Gramma” to Jack and Grace.
- Dr. Lee Galda, Marguerite Henry Professor of Children’s & Young Adult Literature, Emerita, University of Minnesota, co-editor of Literature and the Child, now in its 9th edition, and “Readie” to Bennett and Odessa.
- Dr. Rebecca Rapport, retired Children’s Literature Professor, University of Minnesota, former editor of New Books for Young Readers, practicing with many Grand Nieces and Nephews, and now a new Grandma to Damien!