Behold our magical garden Poems fresh from a school garden

Allan Wolf

Book - 2022

Learn vital processes and procedures about gardening through different types of poetry.

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j811/Wolf
0 / 1 copies available
Location Call Number   Status
Children's Room j811/Wolf Due Apr 14, 2024
Subjects
Genres
Poetry
Informational works
Picture books
Published
Somerville, Massachusetts : Candlewick Press 2022.
Language
English
Main Author
Allan Wolf (author)
Other Authors
Daniel Duncan (illustrator)
Edition
First edition
Physical Description
40 unnumbered pages : color illustrations ; 30 cm
ISBN
9781536204551
Contents unavailable.
Review by School Library Journal Review

Gr 1--5--A school garden flourishes with the help of enthusiastic students in this idyllic poetry collection. The poems begin with a group of students planning and dreaming up a garden, and then soon seeing it to fruition. Each poem then covers a different aspect of the garden throughout the school year, showing the garden at different seasons and different points of the plants' lifespans. The final poem features the garden in winter, with the mantra "gardens come and go" and the garden barren and covered in snow. The poems vary in style, stanza, and rhyme scheme, and the text is whimsical. For the most part, the rhymes have a natural flow and cadence, many lending themselves well to read-alouds. Several of the poems contain informative tidbits related to gardening, including facts about plants, vegetables, and spices, as well as about insects and birds. The artwork is detailed, featuring soft lines and colors, and the characters are diverse, with cartoonlike designs. The back matter provides brief notes on each poem that teach readers about rhyme scheme, stanza, poem types, and personification. Unfortunately, the back matter doesn't follow up with more information on gardening itself, leaving readers to guess which parts of the more fanciful poems are fact and which parts are fiction. Despite this, the book remains an enjoyable read, and one that will likely inspire young readers to grow their own gardens. VERDICT A charming collection of poetry for budding gardeners. Recommended.--Laura J. Giunta

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Review by Kirkus Book Review

Poems celebrating small gardens and those who work them. Wolf claims school visits as inspiration for this collection, but the gardens he writes about, and that Duncan depicts with fine attention to natural detail, could be planted in any small patch of ground: "A dash of freshly chopped-up chives / will make your salad come alive. / To make your salsa taste sublime, / just add cilantro every thyme." Wolf gives the book a pedagogical slant with verses about Linnean names for common veggies and the uses of keeping a notebook of observations as well as an appendix pointing out instances of personification, concrete poetry, irony, rhyme schemes, and like study matter. Some verses are arranged for multiple voices or, like the hilarious "March of the Garden Volunteers" ("Rising from the compost bin, / volunteers are moving in"), choral reading. Seeds, songbirds, and even bugs get their says--"Avoid the use of pesticides! / Say no to insect homicides!"--on the way to one last wintry insight that "Gardens come and go! / Gardens come and go!" Racially diverse groups of children working in gardens and enjoying the harvest alternate with scenes of common flora and fauna throughout. Well tuned to cultivate a deeper appreciation for both poetry and the pleasures and rewards of planting. (Illustrated poetry. 6-9) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.