The Children's Garden: Growing Food in the City

PreS-Gr 3—Inspired by an actual garden in Seattle, founded in 1978, the story begins: "Down the road from Woodlawn Avenue, on a street called Sunnyside, there's a garden patch grown by children who live in the neighborhood." Indeed, five children—three boys and two girls of varying races and skin tones—tend this garden. Readers follow along as the five kids happily plant a wide variety of flowers, fruits, and vegetables. Nearly every page starts with the phrase, "In the Children's Garden" and goes on to describe what is happening: "In the Children's Garden, deep, dark soil—rich with rotted grass, apple peels, and onion skins—is tunneled through by worms that wriggle it loose and give it air—ahhh." Simple yet enlightening and lyrical text is enhanced by the cheerful and colorful artwork, which depicts the tools used by the children, as well as fauna, such as birds, snails, worms, butterflies, and even a family of quail. In the end, the protagonists reap the benefits of their hard work, leaving with baskets and a wagon full of their bounty. Adults are neither mentioned in the text nor seen in the illustrations, an element that will appeal to and empower young children (though it's a bit unrealistic in this day and age).