May 03, 2011

Read Up! May Flowers

This time around, just a small Spring arrangement of books about gardening. All are blooming with fun & imagination, and can be enjoyed indoors or out.


Fran's Flowers
Lisa Bruce & Rosalind Beardshaw

Fran finds a flowerpot with a tiny bud growing inside, and she tries to make the bud flower. Did you know that pizza & ice cream are unlikely to make plants grow? It's fun to read this book along with the children in your life, and talk to them about their ideas as to what Fran is doing wrong.




 

My Garden
Kevin Henkes

The girl in this book knows her way around a garden, but she has big dreams about what a garden of her own would look like. Would you also like jelly-bean bushes?






Rose's Garden
Peter H. Reynolds

Reynolds is responsible for a growing list of beautifully-illustrated stories about amazing transformations in the lives of their young characters. The "Rose" here, with the help of a diverse group of new friends, cultivates a colorful garden in a formerly-dreary & neglected neighborhood. Reynolds books inspire.


Koala and the Flower
Mary Murphy

Poor little Koala lives with a couple of grownups who can only see things in black & white, and always think they have the answers to everything--without ever seeking out any actual information. Koala finds the place where information blooms from the shelves, and her garden soon flowers like magic.




 The Apple Pie Tree
Zoe Hall & Shari Halpern

Part storybook, part nonfiction, this book is the least fanciful of the set--but still asserts that apple pies grow from trees. The collage illustrations are beautifully done, and the pie recipe at the end looks full of possibilities.