Tag Archives: gardening

PPBF – Hope is a Hop

Posted on April 12, 2024 | 6 comments

As spring blossoms in the northern hemisphere and new life emerges, I think today’s Perfect Picture Book is a wonderful way to celebrate.

Title: Hope is a Hop

Written By: Katrina Moore

Illustrated By: Melissa Iwai

Publisher/Date: Dial Books for Young Readers/2023

Suitable for Ages: 4-8

Themes/Topics: gardening, baby bunnies, new baby, rhyming, spring, hope

Opening:

Hope is a light you turn on in the dark,

An up before sunrise—start of a spark.

Brief Synopsis: After young Eva plants a flower garden, a pesky rabbit destroys it. But when Eva discovers why the rabbit invaded her garden, she has a change of heart.

Links to Resources:

Why I Like this Book:

In rhyming couplets, Moore explores the many meanings of “hope” from the perspective of Eva, a budding gardener. I love Eva’s enthusiasm to be outdoors and to create a flower garden. And I understand her frustration when a hungry bunny dashes her hopes. But Eva pivots and finds joy, and new hope, in the discovery of baby rabbits, and she is reinvigorated to replant her garden.

With its flower-filled illustrations and hope-filled rhyming narrative, Hope is a Hop is a perfect book to share with young nature lovers. And while I don’t want to spoil the ending, it’s the perfect gift for a soon-to-be older sibling.

A Note about Craft:

In an interview in Picture Book Builders, Moore shared that the genesis of Hope is a Hop was the discovery of a nest of baby bunnies during the height of the pandemic, a time during which many of us had lost hope. From that discovery sprouted this many-layered, hope-filled picture book.

This Perfect Picture Book entry is being added to Susanna Hill’s Perfect Picture Book list. Check out the other great picture books featured there!

6 Comments

Posted in Perfect Picture Books, Uncategorized

Tagged , , , , ,

PPBF – Just Flowers

Posted on March 22, 2024 | 2 comments

It’s spring! Here in the northern hemisphere, the hours of daylight are increasing, temperatures are warming, and, most importantly, flowers are beginning to bloom. I found the Perfect Picture Book to celebrate, with thanks to Vivian Kirkfield, whose review alerted me to it, and to Sleeping Bear Press, who granted me access to an online copy for review, so I wouldn’t have to wait to share it with you.

Title: Just Flowers

Written By: Erin Dealey

Art By: Kate Cosgrove

Publisher/Date: Sleeping Bear Press/March 2024

Suitable for Ages: 6-7

Themes/Topics: gardening, sharing, beauty, neighbors, nature

Opening:

One blustery brr day, in a dreary dull town, a new neighbor moved in next door.

“Hi!” Izzy said to him. “I’m—.”

Brief Synopsis: Izzy’s grumpy new neighbor is interested only in the roses that grow in his garden, and he directs Izzy to get rid of the other flowers that grow there. As Izzy does so, Izzy beautifies the town and brings joy to its residents.

Links to Resources:

Why I Like this Book:

In Just Flowers, readers meet Izzy, a young child who loves flowers and learning about flowers, and a grumpy new neighbor who finds beauty only in roses. As late winter turns to spring and then summer, Izzy finds a variety of flowers growing in the neighbor’s garden. But the neighbor is interested only in his rose bushes, and he directs Izzy to get rid of the other flowers. Izzy does that by giving them to many people in town, thereby brightening their lives.

Children will love learning about the various flowers growing in the garden, including their Latin names, with further information about them in the back matter. Like Izzy, they’ll wonder why the grumpy neighbor doesn’t love all of the flowers. After all, who hasn’t seen a child mesmerized by a dandelion, that most beautiful “weed.” What a great opportunity to discuss notions of beauty and worth.

Children and their adult readers will love the inclusivity of the text and illustrations: Izzy is never identified by a pronoun, the name is genderless, and they wear a rainbow hoodie; and townspeople include a pediatrician wearing a head scarf, a principal with a prosthetic leg, a fellow student in a wheelchair, and many other inclusively-portrayed people.

I think everyone will agree that Izzy’s kindness paired with these not-roses flowers makes them anything but just flowers. Whether you read Just Flowers at home, in a classroom, or at the library, this hope-filled, inclusive story will bring a bouquet of smiles to brighten your life.

A Note about Craft:

I knew I wanted to read and review Just Flowers the minute I saw the cover and read the title. A lifelong gardener, I wondered about the qualifier “just,” as in only, merely, or less desirable, with flowers. I was intrigued to find out what made them less desirable, who considered them just flowers, and to what they were being compared. What a wonderful title to get readers thinking before they even open the book!

This Perfect Picture Book entry is being added to Susanna Hill’s Perfect Picture Book list. Check out the other great picture books featured there!

2 Comments

Posted in Perfect Picture Books, Uncategorized

Tagged , , , ,

PPBF – My Baba’s Garden

Posted on October 27, 2023 | 5 comments

As the harvest season is coming to an end in much of the country, I’m happy to feature a Perfect Picture Book that showcases gardening and so much more.

Title: My Baba’s Garden

Written By: Jordan Scott

Illustrated By: Sydney Smith

Publisher/Date: Neal Porter Books/2023

Suitable for Ages: 4-8

Themes/Topics: intergenerational, gardening, transitions

Opening:

My Baba lives in a chicken coop beside a highway, behind a sulfur mill shaped like an Egyptian pyramid, bright yellow like a sun that never goes to sleep.

Brief Synopsis:

When the young narrator’s grandmother moves from her home with a large garden and into the narrator’s home, he seeks to recreate a small part of that garden outside her bedroom window.

Links to Resources:

Why I Like this Book:

My Baba’s Garden paints a lovely picture of the magic that ensues when a young child spends time with an aging grandparent, even when, as in this story, the two speak different languages and communicate nonverbally.

As the story begins, Baba inhabits what to many readers may seem a strange house: a chicken coop near a mill. She fills it with food grown in her large and beautiful garden and lovingly feeds the unnamed narrator each morning. Because she has lived there as long as the young narrator has known her, he doesn’t view the living arrangements as unusual. This, I think, is a valuable opportunity to discuss with children living arrangements that differ from theirs.

Baba fills her home with food stored everywhere. I love how the narrator offers a brief explanation about the food. His mom had told him that “Baba didn’t have very much food for a long, long time.” Again, this is a wonderful opportunity to discuss differing life experiences.

Baba also walks slowly when it rains to hunt for worms for her garden, a valuable lesson about using proven gardening methods and what’s at hand.

But as the story unfolds, Baba has to leave her chicken coop house to make way for a “big building”. Roles reverse. While at the outset Baba feeds the narrator, now the narrator brings breakfast to his Baba. He also plants seeds, finding worms and adding them to the soil, just as she had taught him. What a lovely reversal and sign that proven old ways can endure if we pay attention to our wise elderly relatives and neighbors.

Smith’s gorgeous gouache and watercolor illustrations complement Jordan’s poetic text. Smith and Jordan also collaborated on the award-winning picture book, I Talk Like a River.

A Note about Craft:

In a Foreword, Scott recounts the history of his own Baba, who lived in Poland during World War II. He describes the times during his childhood that he spent with his Baba in the chicken coop where she lived. Clearly much of My Baba’s Garden is based on his childhood memories and the importance Scott’s Baba played in his life.

This Perfect Picture Book entry is being added to Susanna Hill’s Perfect Picture Book list. Check out the other great picture books featured there!

5 Comments

Posted in Perfect Picture Books, Uncategorized

Tagged , ,

PPBF – Ojiichan’s Gift

Posted on December 10, 2021 | 2 comments

Tis the season of giving, so I think a picture book about a gift is a Perfect Picture Book!

Title: Ojiichan’s Gift

Written By: Chieri Uegaki

Illustrated By: Genevieve Simms

Publisher/Date: Kids Can Press/2019

Suitable for Ages: 4-8

Themes/Topics: Japan, gardening, intergenerational, adapting to changes

Opening:

When Mayumi van Horton was born, her grandfather built her a garden.

It sat behind a tidy brown house nearly halfway around the world, and it was unlike any other garden she knew.

Brief Synopsis:

Mayumi’s grandfather built her a garden made of stones behind his home in Japan. But when age and health made it difficult to remain in the home, Mayumi had to figure out a way to take the garden along.

Links to Resources:

  • Learn about, and make, your own Japanese garden;
  • Do you have an activity that you enjoy doing with a grandparent or other elderly relative or family friend? Learn a favorite recipe or a special craft from that person;
  • Check out the Teaching Guide for more ideas.

Why I Like this Book:

In this gentle, intergenerational picture book, young Mayumi tends her garden each summer with her grandfather, Ojiichan, who lives in Japan. I love how the garden acts as a means to bond two family members separated by oceans for much of the year. I also love how this activity helps Mayumi learn more about her Japanese heritage. And I especially love that Ojiichan gifts the garden to Mayumi at the outset, which enables her to gift something special to him.

But during one visit, Mayumi and her parents realize that Ojiichan is no longer able to live alone and to care for the garden. At first, Mayumi is angry, a response I think many children (and adults) will understand. She tries to knock over rocks and kicks up gravel. But as she notices the mess that she’s made, she determines to clean up the garden and “a tiny idea took root”. I won’t ruin the ending by sharing what she did, but in the end, she manages to create not just one, but two remembrances of this special shared garden.

Accompanied by Simms’ soft watercolor illustrations, Uegaki’s text provides a gentle roadmap for kids separated from loved ones and for those trying to hold on to special memories.

A Note about Craft:

Perhaps because a Japanese garden is at the center of Ojiichan’s Gift, the story has a calm and peaceful feel to it, perfect for children who are struggling to adapt to changes in their lives, be it aging elders, a move, or some other major life change. This Perfect Picture Book entry will be added to Susanna Hill’s Perfect Picture Book list. Check out the other great picture books featured there!

2 Comments

Posted in Uncategorized

Tagged , , ,

Perfect Pairing Loves Lemonade

Posted on May 21, 2019 | 5 comments

I saw this display at a garden center recently, and I suddenly grew thirsty for lemonade. How about you?

The Lemonade Club

Author & Illustrator: Patricia Polacco

Publisher/Date: Philomel Books, a division of Penguin Young Readers Group/2007

Ages: 6-9

Themes: lemonade, friendship, cancer, teacher, making the best of a bad situation

Short Synopsis (from Goodreads):

Everyone loves Miss Wichelman’s fifth-grade class, especially best friends Traci and Marilyn. That’s where they learn that when life hands you lemons, make lemonade! They are having a great year until Traci begins to notice some changes in Marilyn. She’s losing weight, and seems tired all the time. She has leukemia, and a tough road of chemotherapy ahead. It is not only Traci and Miss Wichelman who stand up for her, but in a surprising and unexpected turn, the whole fifth-grade class, who figures out a way to say we’re with you. In true Polacco fashion, this book turns lemons into lemonade and celebrates amazing life itself.

Read a review at Kirkus Reviews.

 

When Grandma Gives You a Lemon Tree

Author: Jamie L.B. Deenihan

Illustrator: Lorraine Rocha

Publisher/Date: Sterling Children’s Books/2019

Ages: 3-7

Themes: birthday, gifts, intergenerational, gardening, making the best of a bad situation

Short Synopsis (from Goodreads):

When Grandma gives you a lemon tree, definitely don’t make a face! Care for the tree, and you might be surprised at how new things, and new ideas, bloom. 

“When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.” In this imaginative take on that popular saying, a child is surprised (and disappointed) to receive a lemon tree from Grandma for her birthday. After all, she DID ask for a new gadget! But when she follows the narrator’s careful—and funny—instructions, she discovers that the tree might be exactly what she wanted after all. This clever story, complete with a recipe for lemonade, celebrates the pleasures of patience, hard work, nature, community . . . and putting down the electronic devices just for a while.

Read a review at Jilanne Hoffmann’s blog.

I paired these books because both refer to that old saying, “when life gives you lemons, make lemonade”. On the surface, these are very different picture books. Based on a true story, The Lemonade Club deals head on with a very difficult topic: cancer. In contrast, When Grandma Gives You a Lemon Tree is humorous fiction with the “bad situation” being the receipt of an unusual birthday gift, a lemon tree. But both books feature main characters who grow and show empathy, and both feature surprise endings. Also, in a note at the beginning of When Grandma Gives You a Lemon Tree, debut author Deenihan reveals that as she was writing and revising, her family was dealing with a cancer diagnosis. Thankfully, all is well now.

 

 

 

5 Comments

Posted in Perfect Pairing, Uncategorized

Tagged , , , , , , , ,

Perfect Pairing – Thinks about Spring Flowers

Posted on March 12, 2019 | Leave a comment

It’s my eldest daughter’s birthday today, so to celebrate, I thought I’d give her flowers, or more precisely, share two picture books with greenery and blossoms at their heart.

Florette

Author & Illustrator: Anna Walker

Publisher/Date: Clarion Books/2018

Ages: 4-8

Themes: gardening; nature in urban areas; moving; friendship

Short Synopsis (from Goodreads):

When Mae’s family moves to a new home, she wishes she could bring her garden with her. She’ll miss the apple trees, the daffodils, and chasing butterflies in the wavy grass. But there’s no room for a garden in the city. Or is there?

Read a review at Design of the Picture Book .

 

The Seeds of Friendship

Author & Illustrator: Michael Foreman

Publisher/Date: Candlewick Press/2015

Ages:  4-8

Themes: gardening; nature in urban areas; moving; friendship; immigrant

Short Synopsis (from Goodreads):

Adam felt alone in the strange, new city. He missed the colours and friendships of his faraway home. But when a teacher at school gives him a few seeds, she plants an idea in him – an idea that could transform his grey world forever. Michael Foreman’s beautifully-illustrated story is a powerful fable of how friendship can grow in our world.

Read a review at Kirkus Reviews.

I paired these books because they both feature children who have moved to gray urban spaces and who strive to bring nature’s greenery to the city. In Florette, Mae draws trees on empty moving boxes, races to visit pebble-covered parks, and then rescues a small sprout from outside a florist shop window. From that sprout, she grows both a garden and finds friends. In The Seeds of Friendship, Adam, a young immigrant, seeks to adapt to life in a cold, gray city. When a teacher gifts him some seeds, he grows a rooftop garden, bringing color to the city and finding friends. I especially liked how both books depict nature-loving children who persevere to bring what they love to their new homes.

Looking for similar reads?

See A Piece of Home.

Leave a comment

Posted in Perfect Pairing

Tagged , , , ,

PPBF: A Piece of Home

Posted on July 29, 2016 | 4 comments

image

New skill –  driven from NJ to lower Manhattan & Brooklyn, summer 2016

Strange but true fact about me: I love to move. Really! I’m the “go to” parent when my kids move (all three are doing so this summer), and I’ve even contemplated starting a moving consultancy to help seniors downsize. So when I see a book about moving, I can’t resist. Once you see this week’s Perfect Picture Book, you won’t be able to either – whether you enjoy moving or not.

9780763669713_p0_v1_s192x300Title: A Piece of Home

Written By: Jeri Watts

Illustrated By: Hyewon Yum

Publisher/date: Candlewick Press, June 2016

Suitable for Ages: 5-8

Themes/Topics: immigration, moving, Korea, extended family, home, gardening

Opening: “In Korea, my grandmother was a wise and wonderful teacher. When students bowed, she held her shoulders erect, but her eyes sparkled.”

Brief Synopsis: A young boy and his family relocate from urban Korea to West Virginia and he struggles to adapt to life in their new home.

Links to Resources:

  • What reminds you of home? Draw a picture or write a story about it and share it with a friend, classmate or family member
  • Welcome a new student to your school or a new family to your neighbourhood
  • Ask an elderly relative or neighbour about their favourite plants; plant one in your home garden

Why I Like this Book:

A Piece of Home is a lovely intergenerational story of adapting and settling in to a new home in a new country. The main character and narrator, Hee Jun, worries not just about the challenges he faces, but about how his grandmother, who lives and moves with the family, giving up her career to do so, will thrive. While moving and adapting to a new home are the subject of several picture books (see below), A Piece of Home is unique insofar as both the narrator and his grandmother in this intergenerational family must adapt. I also love that a plant, the Rose of Sharon, plays an important role in the resolution of the story.

Ms. Yum’s soft watercolour illustrations and especially the expressive faces of Hee Jun, his family and classmates perfectly complement Watts’ text.19bookshelf-4-master1050-1
A Note about Craft:

Jeri Watts includes some awesome juxtapositions in this tale, including using the terms ordinary, extraordinary & different to great effect. I especially liked her observation that grandmother “could find the extraordinary held within the ordinary”, like the bright red centers in the Rose of Sharon flowers. And Hee Jun observes that in Korea, he was “ordinary,” not different, as he is upon arrival in the US.

The action in A Piece of Home occurs both in Korea and in the US. To separate the two, Ms. Watts relates the Korean scenes in past tense, but then switches to present tense in the US. To tie them together, she subtly points out similarities, most notably in the gardens.

Other Recent Books about Moving:

In a review in the New York Times Book Review, Maria Russo reviewed A Piece of Home and several other 2016 releases about moving, including

9781626720404_p0_v1_s118x184Before I Leave, Jessixa Bagley (Neal Porter/Roaring Brook), about a hedgehog who moves from his anteater friend

9781580896122_p0_v2_s118x184I’m New Here, Anne Sibley O’Brien (Charlesbridge, 2015) follows three recent immigrants who struggle to adapt and fit in at their new school in the US. Ms. Sibley has created a website, imyourneighborbooks.org, that showcases “children’s books and reading projects building bridges between ‘new arrivals’ and ‘long-term communities.’”

9780763678340_p0_v1_s118x184The Seeds of Friendship, Michael Foreman (Candlewick Press, 2015), is about a boy who immigrates to England and finds solace, and friendship, by planting gardens

9780544432284_p0_v4_s192x300My Two Blankets, Irena Kobald & Freya Blackwood (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2014), uses an old and new blanket as metaphors for language and the acquisition of a new language in a new home.

4 Comments

Posted in Perfect Picture Books, Uncategorized

Tagged , , , , ,