We've been renting a house and will have to move by harvest, but how could I say no to my two young budding garden enthusists when all the world around them is planting. It's a miraclous event for a young child to put seeds in the earth and watch them grow into a plant to pluck. There are a great many books around to mark the passage of garden time.
Rather a how-to of children's gardening in created by photojournalist Jill Krementz as she adds to her "very young" series. This time she photographs A Very Young Gardner, six year old Ashley, whose favorite season is spring. For Ashley, spring marks the blooming of bulbs, visits to the nursery for seeds and seedlings, and digging, planting and learning about her vegetable and flower gardens. Ms. Krementz's vivid colors are the essence of spring and document specifics about planting. Ages 4-8. (Dial, 1991)
Ins, outs and even unders of gardening are revealed in A Garden Alphabet by Isabel Wilner, with illustrations by Ashley Wolff. Pictured is a border collie who faces foes such as grasshoppers and rabbits, find friends such as earthworms and frog defines such terms as boundaries. All in a rhyme scheme that is as natural as growing! Ages 3-6. (Dutton, 1991)
Two more alphabet books extoll the delights of gardens. In Elfabet, Jane Yolen's words are forged with rhythms and sounds that babies can love and as the babies grow so will their pleasure in the book. Illustrator Lauren Mills places young whimsical, playful elves in backgrounds that a filled to the brim of plants that weave together the natural and fantasy world. The index has a listing of all so that parent and child can share in identification. (Little Brown, 1990) Ages 2-6.
Anita Lobel so loved drawing flowers in other books that she craved another opportunity for the same. Her delight of doing creates joy of beholding in readers in Alison's Zinnia. The circular alphabet format, that of one child bestowing a blossom on another, makes for not only a bower of beautiful flowers, but a strong theme of giving. Ages 3-6. (Greenwillow, 1990)
Nellyis a young dragon who romps through the garden in all seasons in Elizabeth Slote's Nelly's Garden. Through every season she discovers its joys, from seeing the first snowdrops in March to admiring the stars that twinkle above it in December. Ages 3-5. (Tambourine, Morrow, 1991)
Rose Fyleman wrote the poem A Fairy Went A-Marketing in 1918 and a magical pairing occured several years ago when the poem was illustrated by Jamichael Henterly. Both poet and artist have a profound admiration for the natural world and both create an awe-filled product that produces wonder in the experiencing. The poem tells of a fairy who worships the natural world in all seasons. Ages 3-6. (Dutton, 1986)
In My Garden by Cristini and Puricelli is a wordless picture book that is full of just the kinds of discoveries a child would make--lizards who climb walls, a hen finding a fat bug, and all kinds of other creatures. Stories, naming and adventures emerge with observation in this graphic detailing of an overgrown rustic setting. Ages 2-5. (Picture Book Studio, 1981)
Lois Ehlert shows a strong graphic representations in brilliant colors in her Growing Vegetable Soup, a sparsely worded book that never-the-less tells a young child everything they need to know, every step of the way from seed to soup! Ages 2-5. (HBJ, 1987) Those who are enchanted with Lois Ehlert's work will admire the fruits and vegetables of Eating the Alphabet: Fruits and Vegetables from A to Z. (HBJ, 1989)
For a child who wants to know more about how plants grow, I recommend Gail Gibbon's From Seed to Plant. Gibbons discusses the parts of a flower, pollination, the needs of a plant, a plant project and lastly a page of facts and definitions about plants. Ms. Gibbons has a remarkable talent for combining science and mystery and a non-fiction style that reads very like prose. Ages 4-8. (Holiday House, 1991)
Gardens make for great stories. Jeanne Titherington's Pumpkin Pumpkin tells the story of Jamie who plants and nurtures a pumpkin from seed to jack-o-lantern. Throughout runs a reassuring theme of the cyclical nature of life. The realistic pictures create a special warmth and Jamie has a friend in every picture to help a young listener participate in the story telling. Ages 2-6. Hardcover only. (Greenwillow, 1986)
Nancy Carlson fans will be happy to happen on Harriet and the Garden. While Harriet concentrates on catching a pop-fly, she tramples Mrs. Hoozit's prize dahlia. Full of fear, guilt and sadness, Harriet runs home and hides. After experiencing lack of appeitite, lack of TV enjoyment and a sleepless night, Harriet confesses, aids Mrs. Hoozit in mending her ruined plants, and discovers she loves gardening. Ages 4-8. (Carolrhoda, 1982)
For forty-eight years Miss Penny has raised prize-winning vegetables to the constant frustration of her neighbor, Mr. Grubbs, who was friendless and grew measly vegetables. The vengeful Mr. Grubbs sets several rabbits lose in the Miss Penny's garden and becomes gleefully engrossed in watching Miss Penny's growing frustration as the bunnies multiply and destroy. The resourceful Miss Penny turns ruin about however by winning the prize for the most spectacular rabbits! Ages 3-8. (Bradbury, 1991)
Of course the strangest garden in children's books is Chris Van Allsburg's Caldecott-honor book, The Garden of Abdul Gasazi. Abdul Gasazi, retired magician, has a enchanted garden filled with fascinating topiary and marked with a sign forbidding the entrance of dogs. Alan Mitz, minding his aunt's naughty canine, Fritz, is horrified when the dog escapes into the garden and is turned into a duck. Fortunately, the ending, though strange, as with most of Mr. Van Allsburg's work, is happy. Ages 4-10. (Houghton Mifflin, 1979)