As a parent, you know how important it is to nurture a love of reading at an early age. And it’s never too early to interest kids in gardening. Why not nurture both at the same time with these wonderful books about gardening. These books provide hours of fun in the garden and help kids learn about gardening from a young age.
For Tiny Readers
A fantastic series of board books for kids is made by green start tm. They make board books from 98% recycled materials and print them with eco-friendly ink. Each book has beautiful pictures and simple sentences, “and the parent spread at the back of each book shows how easy it is to practice (and teach!) Earth friendly habits right at home.” A perfect one to start with for budding gardeners is, in the garden, written by Leslie Bockol and illustrated by Jillian Phillips. You can view all of their books at the Innovative Kids website.
How Does a Seed Grow, by Sue Kim, is another enjoyable gardening board book for kids. It has huge foldout pages with professional photographs (by Tilde) that show how different seeds grow. The pages are made out of sturdy plastic, so this is a foldout book kids can really read and play with without ripping easily.
For Kids, Moms & Dads, Grandparents and Teachers
Project-Based Gardening Books
There are tons of amazing, project-based, garden books out there that offer enjoyable activities for kids in the garden. Kids Container Gardening by Cindy Krezel and Bruce Curtis, A Backyard Vegetable Garden for Kids by Amie Jane Leavitt, and Roots, Shoots, Buckets and Boots: Gardening Together with Children by Sharon Lovejoy, are all great ones to start with. DK Publishing has some fabulous books with easy-to-follow instructions and photographs. Ready Set Grow! by DK Publishing, for example, teaches budding gardeners basic tips about gardening, provides step-by-step instructions for designing and growing special gardens like pizza gardens, and it’s full of crafts for the garden. Plus, it offers tips on how to use natural methods in the garden.
Basic Gardening
The Family Kitchen Garden by Karen Liebreich, Jutta Wagner, and Annette Wendland is a book my husband and I discovered last year when we had a newborn and a two-year-old to nurture as well as our garden. What’s great about The Family Kitchen Garden is its simplicity. It provides all the basics about gardening with children, planning your garden, watering, and pest control, but best of all are its month-by-month chapters with easy tips for what to do in the garden each month, as well as recipes to make with the food you’ve grown. In essence, it helps you enjoy gardening with your family when your time is limited.
Where possible I put the links to the publishers’ websites for the books listed above. This way you can browse their sites and see what other gardening titles they have to offer. However, check your local library, independent bookstores, Borders, Barnes & Noble or even Amazon to find these titles and more. With all the wonderful gardening books available, you can enjoy reading and learning about gardening with the young gardeners in your life.
Sara Ohlin - Sara Ohlin is a freelance writer, obsessed gardener, and mother of two truly hilarious and busy children. Since receiving her degree in ...
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