Reading about plants is, for me, the next best thing to growing them. Books about plants, their uses, and growing seasons are among my favorite things. I have chosen three plant books that I think are special. Below, I tell you about them:
Gardening Wizardry for Kids written by L. Patricia Kite and alluringly illustrated by Yvette Santiago Banek is the perfect book to keep by your side as you learn to use your Green Thumb.
Six special sections divide the book into areas where you can:
- Read folk stories about everyday fruits and vegetables like apples and tomatoes.
- Learn how to have fun with fruits and vegetables. Grow an avocado tree or fresh ginger.
- Try some indoor plant-growing experiments. Decide if temperatures make a difference to seed starting. Test popcorn for taste.
- Get the facts about raising your own composting earthworms. You might be interested in starting a pill bug - cute little critters - or snail ranch.
- Experiment with different cooking herbs like mint and parsley. Did you know that both of these plants help sweeten your breath?
- Directions for easy and fun projects finish the book. Here are the directions for corncob as well as cornhusk dolls.
Becoming Butterflies, written by Anne Rockwell with paper collage illustrations by Megan Halsey, is the story of how a class of students your age grew milkweed caterpillars until they metamorphosed (changed) into Monarch butterflies.
Some of the important details that the students watched were:
- how long and fat the caterpillars grew when they ate the milkweed leaves.
- whether the caterpillars hung right-side-up or upside down.
- what happened when the caterpillars were so fat, they split!
- and how the beautiful chrysalises (the part in between the caterpillar and the butterfly) turned into butterflies!
The students release their butterflies to migrate (fly) to Mexico for the cold winter. A special part of the story comes a few weeks later. A letter from students their age in Mexico includes a picture of the Monarch butterflies as they gather in Mexico.
There are pictures of other lovely caterpillars at the beginning of the book; and pictures at the end of the book of the startling butterflies into which they metamorphosis.
Whose Garden Is It?, written by Mary Ann Hoberman and illustrated with realistic paintings by Jane Dyer, explores an interesting question. Mrs. McGee is walking and sees a splendid garden. She asks the question, "Whose garden is it?"
Mrs. McGee's question starts a circle of answers that begins and ends with the gardener who sports a curly mustache, rimless spectacles and a floppy straw hat. Along the way, we meet at least sixteen others who believe the garden is their own.
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