Summer is here! Time to plant seeds and watch them blossom. In honor of the season, here are some of our treasured gardening books for kids.
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1. Up in the Garden and Down in the Dirt by Kate Messner
Ever wonder what happens under a garden? Up in the Garden and Down in the Dirt takes readers through the life cycle of dirt, examining the changes it undergoes each season.
2. Lola Plants a Garden by Anna McQuinn
Lola is inspired to create a garden after reading a collection of gardening poems. She discovers that patience is a key ingredient to a bountiful garden.
3. The Curious Garden by Peter Brown
When Liam decides to care for one fledgling garden, his efforts spread across the city. He creates a greener and brighter world.
4. Tokyo Digs a Garden by Jon-Erik Lappano
Tokyo has witnessed the rapid decline of green space in his community. He decides to plant seeds that were gifted to him. Overnight, the seeds blossom and begin to take over the city. He must come up with a solution that benefits the greater community.
5. The Ugly Vegetables by Grace Lin
A young Chinese American girl wishes that her family’s garden was beautiful like her neighbor’s. She hates the ugly vegetables her family grows. She’d rather have beautiful flowers. However, during harvest time, she learns that those ugly vegetables are a valuable contribution to her neighborhood.
6. Secrets of the Garden: Food Chains and the Food Web in Our Backyard by Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld
Alice records the progress of her family’s spring garden. Her observations offer insights into plant growth and the insects and birds that visit.
7. The Gardener by Sarah Stewart
Set during the Depression, Lydia brings a suitcase full of seeds on her visit to the city to stay with her uncle. She plants those seeds, which blossom and begin to change the landscape of her uncle’s bakery.
8. Planting a Rainbow by Lois Ehlert
Planting a Rainbow explains the gardening process from seed planting to full blossom.
9. If You Hold a Seed by Elly MacKay
Just like real gardens, dreams are planted and nurtured to life with love and patience.
10. Mrs. Spitzer’s Garden by Edith Pattou
Mrs. Spitzer’s Garden celebrates the extraordinary teachers who plant seeds in young minds, nurture them, and help them blossom.
11. Compost Stew: An A to Z Recipe for the Earth by Mary McKenna Siddals
Compost Stew outlines the process of composting, its benefits to gardens, and its impact on the planet.
12. Green Bean! Green Bean! by Patricia Thomas
A young gardener plants a single green bean seed and watches its life cycle through all four seasons.
13. From Seed to Plant by Gail Gibbons
From Seed to Plant explores the science of how seeds become flowers, plants, trees, or food.
14. The Tiny Seed by Eric Carle
The Tiny Seed documents the growth of flowers from seeds.
15. And Then It’s Spring by Julie Fogliano
Fed up with the dreariness of winter, a young gardener decides to plant a garden in the spring. He waits patiently for it to grow and relishes in its blossom.
16. Flower Garden by Eve Bunting
A young girl and her father make a garden of colorful flowers as a gift for her mother.
What are your favorite gardening books for kids? We’d love to hear about them in our WeAreTeachers HELPLINE group on Facebook.
Plus, our favorite summer-themed books, camping books, and space books.
