By Lyndi Toohill
If there’s one thing that I would say is a common trait of staff and volunteers at Nicholas Conservatory & Gardens is that we’re always curious and always learning. We keep an eye on trends, whether it be in holiday light displays, gift store items, events, or programs. We communicate regularly with staff at other gardens throughout the country. But best of all, we’re constantly learning tidbits from you - our visitors, social media followers, and fellow staff and volunteers. (We miss you all so much right now!)
In the coming weeks we’ll be sharing some of our favorite things with you! Everything from the garden tools we can’t live without to our favorite kids gardening projects.
Today, I’ll be starting with my top 5 favorite children’s books. I have been the Manager of Education and Programs at Nicholas Conservatory for a little over 9 years and have collected a lot of gardening and nature books in that time! But do they check out by my four-year old son?? Sometimes the books we love as adults, whether it be for their illustrations or explanations of natural processes, just don’t check out with the little people they were written for – heartbreaking right? So the following top 5 list of my favorite gardening and nature books are ones that check out with both myself and my curious, outdoorsy, mechanically inclined 4 year old.
1. EIEIO, How Old MacDonald Got His Farm with a Little Help From a Hen, by Judy Sierra and Matthew Myers
This book gets read at our house at least once a week. The familiarity of the “Old MacDonald” rhyme gets a modern twist as MacDonald lives in a suburban neighborhood full of perfectly manicured grass lawns. MacDonald decides mowing grass is pretty hard, so he decides to get a goat to help him in his lawn effort. (Insert child giggles here) Before you know it, he’s brought in an engineering hen who manages the conversion of his lawn to garden. Kids will love the silly rhymes featuring the process of composting, adults will get a kick out of the illustrations of the neighborhood reactions to Mac’s muddy endeavor. In the end, what the neighbors saw as a crime against lawn-kind is now transformed into a beautiful garden full of produce and flowers that he shares with his neighbors.
2. All the World, by Liz Garton Scanlon and Marla Frazee
Okay… you’re not going to learn anything about worms, or bees, or plants in this one, but it’s bigger than that. It’s all about connectedness, big and small, and isn’t that what nature is all about anyway? With a catchy rhythm and short sentences, this book follows an extended family through a day of outdoor activities like playing at the beach, gardening, bike riding, and climbing trees. When rain blows in, the kids are disappointed but are comforted by a warm meal, the fireplace at grandma and grandpa’s house, and a night of music and fun with their family. This book is extraordinary in its ability to express the love that goes into ordinary every day moments. A new bedtime classic that is perhaps more relevant today than it was even a month ago - in these uncertain times little moments matter more than ever. I dare you not to cry at the end… “Hope and peace and love and trust. All the world is all of us.”
3. Airplanes in the Garden: Monarch Butterflies Take Flight, by Joan Z, Calder and Cathy Quiel
There are a lot of books out there about butterflies, and this one is my favorite. It has just enough childlike whimsy to be imaginative, but it is real and factual where it counts. You’ll follow a child named Bonnie as she watches the butterflies go through their lifecycle and create a chrysalis on the side of a pot. It also has nice resources in the back that you will (gasp!) actually look at and use. And the watercolor illustrations are absolutely beautiful.
4. Because of an Acorn, by Lola M. Schaefer and Adam Schaefer, Frann Preston-Gannon
Oak trees are almost always top of the list for most ecologically important trees – they support over 500 species of butterflies and moths alone! This short book takes you on a journey as an acorn grows into and oak tree, which gets visited by a bird, and so on until a whole food web emerges around the tree. Fair warning, it does get kids asking why snakes eat chipmunks and why hawks eat snakes, but in a world where we are increasingly less connected with where our food comes from I think it’s good to be honest and factual about the circle of life.
5. Seed School, Growing Up Amazing, by Joan Holub and Sakshi Mangal
I have to admit, this is not my favorite book about seeds, but my son absolutely loves it. I think the concept of the seeds going to school just like he does makes it relatable for early school children. And the language is sweet and silly. The main character is a “little lost seed with a spiffy hat,” an acorn, who goes to school with lots of other seeds of different shapes, colors, and sizes. They learn about what they need to grow (water, air, sun), and the top rules of growing (stems up, roots down). They even practice pushing up through the soil in P.E. class. This book does a great job of taking plant science concepts and making them really simple – pollination and photosynthesis for example. This book does have three different sizes of text, so it can either be a long “tell me everything” book or an “okay, one more book” shorter story.
What are your kids and students’ favorite books?