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Introduction

Fiction

Anderson, Lena, Anna’s Garden Songs, 1989, Green Willow, New York. 31 pages.

Translated from the Swedish, this book provides simple and light-hearted poems about a garden vegetable and full color illustrations of each vegetable. Ann is small enough to hid under a rhubarb leaf.

Carle, Eric, Tiny Seed, 1987, Little, Brown & Co., Boston. 32 pages.

A tiny seed survives while its fellow seeds are eliminated by landing in the wrong place and other adversaries. The resulting plant grows taller than houses; its flower in autumn disperses tiny seeds.

Dodd, Lynley, The Apple Tree, 1985, Gareth Stevens, Inc. Milwaukee. 28 pages. [0-918831-28-8; Library Binding 0-918831-08-3]

Cute fictionalized account of the life cycle of an apple tree. Shows it from planting to harvest. Very simple text appeals to the very youngest in this age group. Surprising ending appeals to the older of the age group.

Drauss, Ruth, The Carrot Seed, 1945, HarperCollins Publishers, 28 pages. [0-06-023350]

A little boy plants a carrot seed that everyone assures him it will not grow. He has confidence it will. He cares for it everyday, then one day a huge plant emerges. Great book for introducing the patients needed for a plant to grow, Use it to assure your little ones something will grow.

Himmelman, John, The Clover County Carrot Contest, 1991 Small Packages, Inc., (A division of Silver Burdett Press, Inc.) Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 44 pages. [0-671-69641-6; 0-671-69637-8]

This is a cute little story in the Fix-It Family series. The family enters the towns Carrot Growing Contest. Each family member invents something to grow the best carrot. The littlest family member simply plants the seed. Everyone worries that Belle will be disappointed so each sets out to secretly help her out. Set up as a "chapter book" this story has a good message about both helping and patients. Great read aloud or early reader.

Keller, Holly, The Best Present, 1989 Greenwillow Books, New York, 32 pages. [0-688-07319-0; 0-688-07320-4]

The hospital rules said no one under ten was allowed to visit patients. But Rosie wants to see her Grandma. How she sends her love to her grandmother is what this sweet story is about. Opens the opportunity to discuss visiting the sick as an act of compassion and how flowers as gifts are a special way of communicating feelings. Story is a bit long for the younger children in this age group.

Ehlert, Lois, Growing Vegetable Soup, 1987, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, New York. 30 pages.

Bright pictures show a father and child sharing the simple joy of planting, watering, watching seeds grow, and making the harvest into soup.

Lobel, Arnold, Frog and Toad Together, 1979, Harper & Row, New York. 48 pages.

"The Garden" is an excellent selection from this title for this unit. In this brief story, Toad plants seeds supplied by his friend Frog. After yelling at them to grow, reading them stories and playing music for them, toad learns a "lesson" about seed sprouting.

Seuss, The Lorax, 1971, Random House, New York. 28 pages.

A classic Dr. Seuss book with a message that greed and lack of responsibility for our environment have a lasting effect.

Silverstein, Shel, The Giving Tree, 1964 Harper-Collins Publishers, New York, 34 pages. [0-06025665-6; 0-06-025666-4 library]

Shel Silverstein zany poetry has been a favorite around our house for the last 20 years or so. However, this book is of a different vein. This is a tender story which describes the relationship of a boy to the backyard tree. Readers of all ages will love this message and story. The Giving Tree is ripe with possibilities for teaching stewardship.

Titherington, Jeanne, Pumpkin, Pumpkin, 1986, Green, New York. 24 pages.

Jamie plants one pumpkin seed, watches it sprout, grow, flower, fruit. He finally picks the pumpkin and carves it – but he saves six seeds for next year.

Non Fiction

Aliki, Corn Is Maize: The Gift of the Indians, (The Let’s-Read-and-Find-Out Science Book) 1976, Harper & row, NY. 34 pages. [0-690-00975-5]

We really enjoyed this book. It begins with a kernel of corn and follows it through its entire live cycle. It then describes the history of corn and how it is related to other grasses. Then it shows how settlers were introduced to corn when they came to the new world. The book ends by describing all of the foods made from corn and its other uses. The book provides directions for making a corn husk doll. All this on the level of preschoolers and primary aged students!

Brenner, Barbara, and Garelick May, The Tremendous Tree Book, 1979, Caroline House, 36 pages. [ 1-878093-56-8]

The simple style of the authors provide basic facts that young children can understand: What are trees? How do they grow? How do they benefit man? How can you tell them apart? Following a little raccoon and squirrel through the book gives it a bit of the "Where’s Waldo?" flare.

Note: One page discusses the concept that trees have existed for about 300 million years. This page is easily skipped if desired.

Fowler, Allan, Corn – On and Off the Cob, (Rookie Read-About Science Series), 1993, Children’s Press Chicago.

Corn - On and Off the Cob is a nice little book that shows all the ways we use corn in our daily life. It also explains how corn both past and present methods of harvest. A bit of the story of how the "Indians" taught the pilgrims to grow and use corn is also included. For only 32 pages this book is packed with information. Lots of color photos of kids and corn, too.

Fowler, Allan, If It Weren’t for Farmers, (Rookie Read-About Science Series), 1993, Children’s Press Chicago.

This little book begins by posing the question, "If it weren’t for farmers – what would there be to eat?" The remaining thirty pages explain in simple text all the things produced on farms. Every page is dominated by color photographs of food, animals, and children.

Gibbons, Gail, From Seed to Plant, 1991, Holiday House, New York, 32 pages. [ 0-8234-0872-8]

This book very succinctly describes seeds and their role in plant growth. Describes the variety of seeds, parts of the plant, how seeds are pollinated, and discusses seed dispersal. It also briefly outlines the process of growing a garden and the life cycle of a plant. Ends with a project of growing a bean plant from seed.

Maestro, Betsy, How Do Apples Grow?, 1992, Let’s-Read-and-Find-Out Science Book, 1992, Harper-Collins, New York. 32 pages. [0-06-020055-3; Library Binding 0-06-020056-1]

With simple prose and colorful pictures, this book reveals how apples grow from bud to flower to fruit. Clear diagrams show the parts of a flower and the processes of pollination and fertilization.

Oppenheim, JoAnne, Have You See Trees?, 1995, Scholastic, New York, 38 pages. [0-590-46691-7]

"Have you seen trees? High trees, wide trees, reaching-to-the-sky trees. Did you ever hide behind a wide high tree?" So begins this lilting introduction to the world of trees. Our family loves just about everything JoAnne Oppenheim has written. She has a talent for mixing facts with poetic form. Highly recommend this and any other book by this author.

Parker, Philip, The Life Cycle of a Sunflower, 1988, the Bookwright Press, New York, 32 pages. [0-531-18191-X]

This book through text and beautiful illustration describes the life cycle of a sunflower from seed to seed production. Provides information of parts of the plant and reproduction and pollination. Provides information on growing your own sunflower.

Phillips, Sarah (Editor), What’s Inside? Plants, 1992 Dorling Kindersley, Inc. New York. 17 pages. . [1-56458-005-9]

This book covers the anatomy of plants, including Rose, Tulip, Poppy. Cactus, Thistle, Pitcher Plant, Bromeliad, and Water Lilly. Each flower is featured on a double page spread, one side showing the outside of the plant and the other a cross-section, tear away view of the inside. Side notes give interesting facts. A good resource for examining plants with your students ages 3 to 12.

Robinson, Fay, Vegetables, Vegetables! (Rookie Read-About Science Book), 1994,Children’s Press, Chicago. 32 pages. [0-516-06030-9]

One of the some 60 Rookie Read-About Science Books, Vegetables, Vegetables! is perfect as a read aloud to Preschool through first grade students or as an early readers for 2^nd and 3^rd graders. As with others in this series the simple text is illustrated with concrete, isolated photos. The last few pages of the book describe the steps to growing a garden.

Ryder, Joanne, Hello, Tree!, 1991, Lodestar Books, New York, 32 pages. [0-525-67310-5]

This book is an interesting mix - poetry and science. Using poetic text and beautiful watercolor-type illustrations this text invites children to celebrate the joy of a tree (and nature) as they watch a tree grow and change through the seasons. The text can be connected to learning about seasons or about the senses - loaded with content. The text is a little long for the younger, more kinetic of this age group.

Sanchez, I and Peris, C., Discovering Nature: The Orchard, 1991, Barron’s Educational Series, Inc., NY,18 pages.[0-8120-4710-9]

This book is perfect for your littlest ones, my grandson enjoyed it at 15 months old as did is 4 year old aunt. Attractive pictures and simple text describes typical seasonal activities at an orchard. Traces the fruit from seed to store. Introduces concepts of nutrition, and sanitation. Mention a variety of fruits and nuts. Last two pages have activity suggestions. Other books in the series worth checking out are The Forest, The Garden, and The Farm.

Selsam, Millicent and Hunt Joyce, A First Look at Leaves, 1972, Walker and Co. New York. 32 pages. [ 0-8027-6117-8 & 0-8027-6118-6]

Written in an interactive style this book is very factual, yet fun. The interactive questioning focuses on like and unlike making it a perfect book for this age. It does cover many aspects of leaves - venation, compound vs. simple leaves, leaf buds, leaf edges, and leaf function. Ends with an art project for making leaf prints.

Webber, Irma E., Up Above & Down Below: A First Book About Plants,1943, Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, Inc. Reading, MA, 32 pages. [0-201-09383-9]

Excellent descriptive, yet simple text, with clear illustrations teaches even the youngest child basic plant parts and quite a bit about plant growth and development. The fact that the book has been in print since 1943 says a lot! Highly recommend this text for this age group.

Zoehfeld, Kathleen Weidner, What’s Alive (Let’s Read and Find Out About Science - Stage 1), 1995, Harper Collins Publishers, 32 pages. [0-06-023443-1]

This book gives clear explanation of the difference between living and nonliving (and even no longer living), as well as plants vs. animals to young children. These concept are the beginning of understanding the classification system. This book is a perfect introduction to sorting and classification activities. A third grader could probably read the text to a younger sibling, yet it is not drivel. Highly recommended.

Curriculum Connections

McMillan, Bruce, Counting Wildflowers, 1986, Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Books, New York. 28 pages. [0-688-02895-4; 0-688-02860-8 Library binding]

Children learn and practice counting from 1 to 20, numeral recognition, and to read number words while viewing beautiful photographs of wild flowers. Each page features a picture with one type of plant, the blooms equal to the number featured. Can also be used to learn color names and to recognize common wildflowers. Note: See Activities.

McMillan, Bruce, Growing Colors, 1988, Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Books, New York. 32 pages. [0-688-028000; 0-688-028000 Library binding]

Each color of the spectrum is given a two-page spread, with a full-page color close-up photograph of a fruit or vegetable on the right, and on the left a small photo of the entire plant with the name of the color in large letters.

Lottridge, Celia Barker, One Watermelon Seed, 1986, Oxford University Press, Toronto. 28 pages.

Ó 1998 by Beverly L. Adams-Gordon