Gardening has always been a passion of mine, since I was very small. Some of my earliest memories are gardening with my gram, planting seeds and watching them grow. So now that I have my own petites who just so happen to love gardening (thank goodness) every spring becomes this incredibly magical time where we talk more and more about the seeds, garden planning, the science, healthy food, ecosystems and so much more. So we’ve been reading an absolute ton of books about gardens both fiction as well as non-fiction in preparation for spring and our planting.
For this first installment of Gardening with Petites, we are sharing The Children’s Garden: Growing Food in the City by Carole Lexa Schaefer illustrated by Pierr Morgan (Little Bigfoot, 2017) which is hitting shelves on Tuesday! This is a story that is very much a homegrown story all about a children’s garden that is an actual garden here in Seattle. If you don’t happen to live in a larger city a community garden may be a new concept, I know that I was unaware of just what a pea patch or community garden was until I moved to Seattle. The premise is that community members come together to grow food and then can share or donate the extra food that they grow.
This is a story all about the joy, learning, respect, community, responsibility and teamwork. This book tells the story of children from the neighborhood who ride their bikes, pull their wagons and walk with their friends in tow to their community garden. This is their garden, they are allowed to listen, see, smell, touch and taste – because it is all theirs.
This story teaches all about what the children learn from the garden, the important role that worms play in this important ecosystem that allows their seeds to grow. The illustrations are fantastic in that they depict the diversity of the children coming to their community garden. The vibrant illustrations are chock-full of birds, insects, and the lush colors of summer. This book depicts exactly what you would envision a community garden would look like; with raised beds using mixed materials and assorted pots and children everywhere planting and harvesting all that their hard work has produced.
There are so many elements of this book that I, as a mom, teacher and gardener find valuable – the lessons that are taught are so important (they are also taught in a very subtle way), your petite will be inspired to get out and grow things, maybe even try some new foods they have been reticent to try before, they will learn new responsibilities and that through hard work and patience that there is a reward.
What my petites loved about reading this book is that we are currently planting seeds and planning our garden and they loved seeing other kids planting their gardens. The illustrations are absolutely gorgeous, you will have to read it a few times to catch all of the tiny details that Pierr Morgan has included, the tiny snails or quail chicks. This book inspires, empowers, excites, and fosters pride! Reading The Children’s Garden along with a trip to your local garden center will ensure that your petite has a summer filled with gardening fun.
Bloggers Note: This book was given to me by Little Bigfoot in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions shared in this post are my own. Thank you to Little Bigfoot for permission to use images from The Children’s Garden in this post.
by Boni Ashburn with illustrations by Kelly Murphy is a story all about patience and counting. This is a story that is so much fun to read, it has a very lyrical property based on the folk song ‘Over the Meadow’ and the counting that takes place is almost like a scavenger hunt for the petites. It all starts out as an a mother dragon and her little one are sitting in the sun. The counting continues and is a fun look at castle life. It continues through their day and ends with a very unexpected ending. I love the smooth illustrations, how the little dragon is clearly excited for something to happen all day and has to patiently wait while watching all that is happening at the castle below. My petite commented on how it would be hard to wait all day for something fun to happen.
by Steve Light you will find a charming protagonist as he searches the city for his missing and quite mischievous dragon. The illustrations in this book, especially of the dragon have a Celtic feel to them. The city scape that Steve Light has created is so detailed and intricate, you cannot possibly see all that there is to see in one reading.
A few years ago the petite received this really fun building block set from her Auntie, this building set is from Plan Toys, if you haven’t heard about these toys here is why they are fabulous:
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was published in 2007, this book is intended for 4 to 8 year olds, however, after having read this story, this would be a great read aloud for the classroom, up through 8th grade, possibly an art class if students were designing structures. Iggy Peck is a curious young boy who builds structures out of just about anything, diapers, fruit, he is quite resourceful. This book is ideal for young ones who like to build and create. The illustrations are colorful and inspiring, I imagine they look like the images that would flow through an architects mind. I guarantee you’ll be pulling out graph paper and colored pencils to help your young Iggy Peck’s draft their creations.
. Rosie is a shy young girl who builds amazing things but hides them away afraid of failure. Until her great-great-aunt Rose comes for a visit and helps her to see just how amazing her engineering is, even if at first, it’s a flop. She helps Rosie to understand that even a flop is a good thing and that trying again is no failure. The lyrical patterning to these stories makes them very fun and engaging to read. My daughter loves this book, she loves looking at the designs Rosie creates.
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The Petite Stag 