Garden and Plant-related Children's Books
May 16, 2019 8:43 AM Subscribe
If you were doing a storytime in a garden, what books would you choose?
This is a follow up to a previous question about advice on setting up a storytime.
I'm looking for books for two age areas: up to 3 and 3-6
I'd like to have books related to the space we will be reading in. So that includes animals local to the NYC area, plants and gardening, dirt, bugs, etc.
I'd love to hear about books that include people of all genders, races, sexuality etc that don't have a non-cis/non-het/non-white person as a token addition.
This is a follow up to a previous question about advice on setting up a storytime.
I'm looking for books for two age areas: up to 3 and 3-6
I'd like to have books related to the space we will be reading in. So that includes animals local to the NYC area, plants and gardening, dirt, bugs, etc.
I'd love to hear about books that include people of all genders, races, sexuality etc that don't have a non-cis/non-het/non-white person as a token addition.
My son (3) and I very much enjoyed The Little Gardener by Emily Hughes, it's got beautiful illustrations and they do their gardening in an urban space if I'm remembering right.
posted by Lluvia at 8:48 AM on May 16, 2019
posted by Lluvia at 8:48 AM on May 16, 2019
Summer Supper
Growing Vegetable Soup
Dig in!
The Tiny Seed
Tap the Magic Tree
posted by nuclear_soup at 8:54 AM on May 16, 2019
Growing Vegetable Soup
Dig in!
The Tiny Seed
Tap the Magic Tree
posted by nuclear_soup at 8:54 AM on May 16, 2019
Wanda's Roses is a sweet story with a nice mix of ages, ethnicities, and (binary) genders set in an urban neighborhood. We started reading it around age three I think.
posted by teremala at 8:56 AM on May 16, 2019
posted by teremala at 8:56 AM on May 16, 2019
“The Garden” from Frog and Toad Together.
posted by mbrubeck at 9:05 AM on May 16, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by mbrubeck at 9:05 AM on May 16, 2019 [3 favorites]
Aliki, Quiet in the Garden. Non-white kid in a garden listening to how not quiet it is.
Emily Jenkins, Water in the Park. All the people and animals who visit a city park over a day. Mix of races/genders/cultures.
Joyce Sidman, Swirl By Swirl, about spirals in nature -- no human characters.
posted by nonane at 9:17 AM on May 16, 2019
Emily Jenkins, Water in the Park. All the people and animals who visit a city park over a day. Mix of races/genders/cultures.
Joyce Sidman, Swirl By Swirl, about spirals in nature -- no human characters.
posted by nonane at 9:17 AM on May 16, 2019
Lola Plants a Garden by Anna McQuinn features a little black girl getting a book of poetry about plants from the library and using that as inspiration for planting a garden with her mom, which seems like it would be really appropriate for a library storytime!
posted by SeedStitch at 9:43 AM on May 16, 2019
posted by SeedStitch at 9:43 AM on May 16, 2019
Grandpa Green by Lane Smith [Wikipedia, Amazon, GoodReads]
posted by sacrifix at 10:03 AM on May 16, 2019
posted by sacrifix at 10:03 AM on May 16, 2019
The Imaginary Garden by Andrew Larsen and Irene Luxbacher is a beautiful book that combines the love of gardening with simple techniques for painting a gardenscape. It is about a little girl who loved gardening with her grandfather, but when her grandfather downsized to an apartment, they decided to paint a large scale garden to continue their love of nature and spending time together.
posted by defreckled at 10:40 AM on May 16, 2019
posted by defreckled at 10:40 AM on May 16, 2019
It's old but I loved the log hotel. You can bring an old decaying log and let the kids have at it.
It's a buck 75!
posted by beccaj at 10:44 AM on May 16, 2019
It's a buck 75!
posted by beccaj at 10:44 AM on May 16, 2019
Lois Ehlert has a ton of great garden-related books. My daughter loved Planting a Rainbow and Ten Little Caterpillars. But my personal recommendation would be And Then It's Spring, which is for sure in my top 5 kid's books of all time. Come to think of it, Julie Fogliano probably also has a few other titles that would work---When Green Becomes Tomatoes is poetry, but might do the trick. All of her stuff is super fantastic with gorgeous illustrations.
posted by cheese at 11:14 AM on May 16, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by cheese at 11:14 AM on May 16, 2019 [2 favorites]
Mud Pies and Other Recipes by Marjorie Winslow is pretty awesome - it’s got simple recipes or ideas for Rainspout Tea, Chalk Shakes, Backyard Stew, Fried Water and all sorts of other yard & garden related fun stuff.
posted by chr1sb0y at 11:37 AM on May 16, 2019
posted by chr1sb0y at 11:37 AM on May 16, 2019
Rainbow Stew is fun, and I'll second Lola Plants a Garden.
posted by that's candlepin at 1:43 PM on May 16, 2019
posted by that's candlepin at 1:43 PM on May 16, 2019
The Very Hungry Caterpillar, 1969, Eric Carle according to my wife. As you read each page a Caterpillar at the bottom of page is always eating it's way thru an apple. I think it looks different on each page.
posted by unearthed at 2:02 PM on May 16, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by unearthed at 2:02 PM on May 16, 2019 [1 favorite]
If you want a book that's wordless, Andy Runton's Owly & Wormy, Friends All Aflutter!, is very charming.
posted by praemunire at 2:07 PM on May 16, 2019
posted by praemunire at 2:07 PM on May 16, 2019
One of my mom's favorites to read to my siblings and I was Two Little Gardeners, by Margaret Wise Brown, the author of Goodnight Moon.
posted by abeja bicicleta at 3:35 PM on May 16, 2019
posted by abeja bicicleta at 3:35 PM on May 16, 2019
I still have my childhood copy of This Year's Garden. Cynthia Rylant! Luscious illustrations!
Dang, now I want to go re-read it myself.
posted by kalimac at 4:14 PM on May 16, 2019
Dang, now I want to go re-read it myself.
posted by kalimac at 4:14 PM on May 16, 2019
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by Melismata at 8:46 AM on May 16, 2019