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| All photos: Tasha Zoller |
by Molly Aloian, from The Green Scene series, 2014, Crabtree Publishing Co., New York, NY, crabtreebooks.com
This is a great introductory book for
young kids and elementary students who want to learn how to be environmentally
friendly gardeners. It focuses on sustainable practices and promotes small
scale gardening, such as rooftop gardening, without using pesticides. The book
also has quick tip sections for kids to “take action” encouraging readers to
start gardening using the principles of reduce, reuse, and recycle.
by Ruth Owen, from Green Collar Careers series, 2010, Crabtree Publishing Co., New York, NY crabtreebooks.com
For the older grade school student,
this exciting book asks readers to think about careers that "reflect the
issues that are important to us.” Namely, the care and healing of our planet.
Topics include what organic farming is and how it’s different from corporate
agriculture, “fair trade” food production, fun career profiles of
farmers, bakers, and chefs around the world, and some hot-button issues like genetically modified foods, intensive livestock farming, use of synthetic
fertilizers and pesticides, and climate change affecting farming.
A delightfully illustrated storybook about Jayden’s faith in finding nature in the middle of the big city. With his friend, Mr. Curtis, who happens to work from a wheelchair, Jayden builds a “magical secret fort garden” amongst the buildings and roads next to his apartment complex. The back of the book contains notes from and about the author and the illustrator, Ken Daley, including a little information about familiar plants, insects, and birds as well as projects to “Invite Nature in with Recycled Crafts.”
From purchase to planting to blooming, this book builds anticipation for the youngster willing to patiently wait for an explosion of color in spring. This book offers a bit about how tulips grow, fade, and store energy to bloom year after year.
If your child wants to dig in to the fundamentals of farming and gardening this book is an excellent place to start. From a geologic perspective, it covers what soil is, how it’s made, and what it needs to be healthy. There are lively, clearly labeled diagrams and maps which effectively explain scientific concepts. The book also reviews problems with current large-scale agriculture practices.
You guessed it, another book about where soil comes from and it’s written for younger children. It has detailed photos of different soil environments and close-up diagrams of soil sections including insects, worms, and microbes. There is also a Science Lab outlining how kids can get up close and personal with their own soil samples.
Soils by Andrea Rivera, from Zoom In on Rocks and Minerals series, 2018, Abdo Consulting Group, Inc., abdopublishing.com
Though this basic book is for early
readers it is broad in its scope. It touches on interesting yet less obvious
aspects of soil such as technology, engineering, art, and math.
