Gardening/Permaculture Education
childrens_lit_table_0518kb.pdf |
BOOK COVER
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TITLE and AUTHOR
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SYNOPSIS
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The Dandelion Seeds Big Dream
By: Joseph Anthony and Cris Arbo |
This beautifully illustrated story book is perfect for instilling hope in children that a dream they have, like a little dandelion seed, will not be lost. The dandelion seed’s progress through a city and then finally to a community garden reveals how the seed is at last able to flourish, like its parents.
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The Garden of Wisdom: Earth Tales from the Middle East
By: Michael J. Caduto and Odelia Liphshiz |
This collection of tales has been gathered through the oral tradition of storytelling. It reflects traditional tales of the Middle East tied to nature and environmental issues.
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The Tiny Seed
By: Eric Carle |
The life cycle of the seed is joyfully portrayed through thick and thin in its journey, including being trampled upon while it has already sprung up. This book has few words, is simple to read, and has beautiful illustrations. It is perfect for sharing with children in a transition time or during a circle time.
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City Green
By: DyAnne DiSalvo-Ryan |
Marcy sees a spot in her neighborhood that is full of litter and she decides to make it beautiful; her work becomes a community project involving a garden. This book, according to Amazon, is listed as being one that is on the “ALA (American Library Association) Booklist,” supporting the Common Core State Standards.
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A, Bee, See: Who are the Pollinators and Why are They in Trouble?
By: Kenneth Eade |
This photo documentation of pollinators (birds, bees, bats, butterflies and other insects and wildlife) account for the many ways in which flowering plants reproduce seeds. Seed reproduction is dependent on the common honey bee and other wildlife, but human activity interrupts this cycle of life. Simple explanations and photos make the decline in pollinators understandable to our children, who are young scientists.
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Planting a Rainbow
By: Lois Ehlert |
Sowing spring garden beds brings joy and abundance to this “rainbow hued” progression of illustrations and captions of flowering bulbs, seedlings, and plants.
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Eating the Alphabet
By: Lois Ehlert |
Using amazing illustrations and new words for many children, Lois Ehlert’s fruits and vegetables create the A to Z alphabet. It is a perfect book to learn about new foods, tastes, and repeat common and new vocabulary involving fruits and vegetables.
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Waiting for Wings
By: Lois Ehlert |
This book gives readers the life cycle of four butterflies in beautiful rhymes and pictures. With “...butterfly and flower facts and identification tips, as well as a guide to planting a butterfly garden, this butterfly book is like no other.”
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Yucky Worms
By: Vivian French & Jessica Alhberg |
Who would want to be friends with a wiggly, slimy worm? You can’t even tell which end is which! But there’s more to these lowly creatures than meets the eye. Kids are invited to find out where worms live, see how they move, and understand why gardeners consider them friends, wiith the help of this humorous and informative look at an unappreciated — and fascinating — creature. Back matter includes further information about worms and an index.
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Hoot
By: Carl Hiaasen |
A middle-school aged boy is new to a school and has so many obstacles to overcome; he meets a friend, Beatrice, who introduces him to a mystery involving owls. Part of this entails helping the owls to have a habitat - despite the wishes of some people in the city to build a restaurant in the owls’ territory.
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Flush
By: Carl Hiaasen |
Noah and his sister Abbey are onto a mystery - which includes an adventure to help their father, a strong environmentalist who has been arrested for doing what he believes to be right. Noah and Abbey must figure out how to stop illegal dumping in their town’s marina.
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Apple Trees
By: Dorothy Hinshaw |
Real photographs of apples are used in this informative book on the life cycle and work involving growing apples. Although the author’s wording on certain pages could be tweaked for a deeper understanding of plant structures, this book is still encouraged. Because apples are such a loved fruit, grow in Ohio commonly, and require pollinators such as bees, this is a great non-fiction read.
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Rosy’s Garden
By: Satomi Ichikawa |
Featuring a stunningly precious, rare literature style, this book has many “short” stories of gardens and flowers of many places - perfect to be read in chunks to children. All the stories are told by Granny to her granddaughter, in a therapeutic way, involving young boys and girls from around the world. Many flowers uses, including ancient meanings of flowers, are described in this appealing book.
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The Fascinating World of Butterflies and Moths
By: Angels Julivert |
This colorful book is full of short descriptions of types of butterflies, migration patterns, feeding patterns/ their food source, an introduction to silk worms (hence fabric), and how to help protect butterflies. It discusses how caterpillars can also be damaging to crops; here is potential to stimulate ideas in children dealing with real issues on how to protect both plants and the adult butterflies that help pollinate them.
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What is Pollination?
By: Bobbie Kalman |
Pollination by insects is a critical function of all land ecosystems. Most orchard fruits, vegetables, and some field crops are pollinated by insects. This book features photographs that focus on the critical fact that protecting pollinators means having food to eat. It helps children look at insects in a different way.
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The Carrot Seed
By: Ruth Krauss |
Persistence and dedication help this child grow a seed into a vegetable despite his families insistence that, “It won’t come up”! This book describes the process he rhythmically goes through, including watering and weeding, in order to take care of the seed; his efforts demonstrate his careful work, and are thoughtfully rewarded.
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Seasons of Joy: Every Day is for Outdoor Play
By: Claudia Marie Lenart |
This book illustrates the seasons beautifully through images of felted work. The author provides simple and poetic lines that build on the images to show the joy that can be found in nature throughout all seasons.
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If the Earth Were a Few Feet in Diameter
By: Joe Miller |
This poetry book allows children to see the splendor of the earth and be in awe of it - to appreciate caring for it - as they learn to see it from different angles. Through the exploration of mathematical concepts, children gain a deeper understanding of the dangers our planet is faced with.
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Isabella’s Garden
By: Glenda Millard |
This is a beautiful poetic story of changes that occur naturally in a peaceful garden setting. “This is the sun that kisses the clouds, that cried the rain that soaked the seeds that sleep in the soil…” This story is great for readers of all ages and depicts year-round gardening.
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The Girl Who Thought in Pictures: The Story of Dr. Temple Grandin
By: Julia Finley Mosca |
This inspiring story for children and adults involves a young girl diagnosed with autism who faces many obstacles and overcomes; she is able to make great gains in animal farming methods, which indirectly affects plant agriculture as well.
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If You Plant a Seed
By: Kadir Nelson |
This lovely picture-rich book, with less text, reveals the connection of planting seeds and seeing how they flourish. In an amazing way, portraying birds that want to share with the bunny and the mouse, the idea of planting selfishness or planting kindness is portrayed; it is a perfect for enhancing the social-moral environment of the classroom.
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One Plastic Bag: Isatou Ceesay and the Recycling Women of the Gambia
By: Miranda Paul |
This true story shows the stunning creativity and management of women’s work in Gambia when one woman, Isatou, finds a plastic bag and decides to make purses. It is an excellent resource for promoting a healthy look at a class - which is a multicultural setting.
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The Forever Garden
By: Laurel Snyder & Samantha Cotterill |
A small girl loves to spend time with her neighbor friend, Honey. Honey is an excellent gardener and friend to the small girl’s whole family. What will the little girl do if Honey can no longer live near her?
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A Place for Butterflies
By: Melissa Stewart |
The author, an artist, portrays dazzling pictures of diverse places where butterflies live- including in burned forests and in large fields. She culminates the book- which describes one butterfly of North America on nearly every other page - by reminding all readers how important it is to protect the places where butterflies live.
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Winter Bees & Other Poems of the Cold
By: Joce Sudana & Rick Alen |
In this outstanding picture book collection of poems by Newbery Honor-winning poet, Joyce Sidman (Song of the Water Boatman, Dark Emperor and Other Poems of the Night), discover how animals stay alive in the wintertime and learn about their secret lives happening under the snow. Paired with stunning linoleum print illustrations by Rick Allen, this book celebrates the beauty and power in nature.
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The Busy Tree
By: Jennifer Ward |
This is a poetic book describing many facets of a tree and the lives that are affected by one tree. It also allows children to see a tree’s anatomy from the bottom to the top, in beautifully rendered oil paintings on each page.
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Sow and Grow
By: Gabrielle Woolfitt |
This is a non-fiction book that portrays children helping with gardening, gives the basics on growing, plant biology, germinating seeds, growing beans, making floral displays/ pressing flowers, and making an herb garden. It is an excellent reference book for children that gives step by step instructions that can be improvised as well.
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Other Resources
Collaborators
Anna Beckwith
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Dr. Bridget Mulvey is a Science Education and Early Childhood Education professor at Kent State University. She earned her Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Virginia and a master's degree in geological sciences from Indiana University at Bloomington. She taught preschool-16 science for 11 years in formal and informal settings and has taught science methods at undergraduate and graduate levels since 2010. Her teaching and research focus on teachers and students doing science inquiry and understanding characteristics of scientific knowledge and inquiry to improve access to science learning and careers for underrepresented groups with a focus on minority, female, and special education teachers and students.
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