Busy in the garden

PreS-Gr. 2. Zucchini meeny miney moe. Plant a seed and watch it grow. Shannon celebrates garden magic in these cheerful verses for the picture-book crowd. No quiet, drowsy flowerbeds here. The gardens in these poems are filled with rowdy, joyful motion and noise that's sure to inspire listener participation: Peppers in a polka / as the snow peas snapped. / Beans in a boogie / as the cabbage clapped. A few poems are riddles that call for challenging conceptual leaps, and the format is sometimes awkwardly presented; in A Riddle Garden, for example, children may not initially identify the questions they're asked to answer. Still, the best selections are immediately accessible and bounce with humor and an irresistible beat. Williams' lively watercolor-and-pencil illustrations of children and animals digging in the rows shine with the colors of spring, although the many small images won't show well to a large crowd. Teachers may want to read the poems in science and poetry units, but the energetic, silly rhymes will easily draw fans outside of the classroom. --Gillian Engberg Copyright 2006 Booklist

PreS-Gr 3-Twenty-four snappy poems revolve around the growing season. All are short; most are no more than four lines. Some are "punny"-"Would You Carrot All to Dance?" Others are riddles, such as "A Riddle Picnic." "Papa ate the root/and tossed the leaves./Mama ate the leaves/and said `Mine's best!'/Brother ate the stem/and found no seeds./Sister ate the seeds/and tossed the rest." (Answers: carrot, spinach, celery, peas) Children will like the quick pace and the lilting rhythm. The jokes and puns will be better understood by adults, but young readers will grow into the humor. The watercolor illustrations will definitely appeal to the very young. Simple sketches are planted in the white space in and around the poems, uniting the text and art. Large paintings fill a few pages and give contrast to the smaller sketches. These seasonal poems can be shared one-on-one, read in storytimes, or alone. Selected single poems will fit especially well into garden-themed units.-Carolyn Janssen, Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County, OH (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

(Preschool, Primary) In this poetry picture book that celebrates things that grow, Shannon accomplishes the nifty trick of writing poems that preschoolers can understand and enjoy without limiting the audience to only the youngest. The wit and wordplay will work well for older kids, too: ""Zucchini / meeny / miney / moe. / Plant a seed / and watch it grow."" In addition to poems about planting, waiting, picking, and eating are verses about garden activities like croquet and badminton and even a couple of genuinely clever riddles written in the form of poems. Williams's mixed-media illustrations cheerfully depict the garden (and its accompanying bugs, animals, and people), employing watercolors with lots of yellow, orange, and green. Use this one in spring to talk about gardens or, better yet, use it in winter when dancing vegetables and a frog delivering a May basket of flowers would be especially welcome. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.

PreS-Gr 3 -Twenty-four snappy poems revolve around the growing season. All are short; most are no more than four lines. Some are "punny"-"Would You Carrot All to Dance?" Others are riddles, such as "A Riddle Picnic." "Papa ate the root/and tossed the leaves./Mama ate the leaves/and said 'Mine’s best!’/Brother ate the stem/and found no seeds./Sister ate the seeds/and tossed the rest." (Answers: carrot, spinach, celery, peas) Children will like the quick pace and the lilting rhythm. The jokes and puns will be better understood by adults, but young readers will grow into the humor. The watercolor illustrations will definitely appeal to the very young. Simple sketches are planted in the white space in and around the poems, uniting the text and art. Large paintings fill a few pages and give contrast to the smaller sketches. These seasonal poems can be shared one-on-one, read in storytimes, or alone. Selected single poems will fit especially well into garden-themed units.-Carolyn Janssen, Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County, OH