Posted on by TracyC

Whose Garden Is It?

Whose Garden Is It? by Mary Ann Hoberman, illustrated by Jane Dyer, 2001.

This is a cute picture book, told in rhyme, about who is the real owner of a garden.

One day, Mrs. McGee goes for a walk and passes a beautiful garden. She wonders aloud whose garden it is. Of course, the owner of the garden, who is tending the plants speaks up, but he’s not the only one.

A small rabbit also tells Mrs. McGee that the garden belongs to him because he’s lived there his whole life, and he eats the vegetables. Then, a woodchuck says that’s nothing because he eats everything that grows in the garden. A bird chimes in, saying he eats the worms from the garden. Then, a worm says that worms are there to make the soil in the garden better, so he’s the real owner of the garden.

Various other creatures, big and small speak up, each of them pointing out that they live in the garden, what they’ve done for the garden, and what the garden has done for them. The bees and butterflies pollinate the flowers.

But what about the plants in the garden? They have a strong argument that they are what makes the garden a garden. Then again, the soil is where the plants grow, and the plants need the sun and rain to grow. Also, all plants grow from seeds, so the garden exists for the seeds that will be the future plants.

It seems that the answer to Mrs. McGee’s question isn’t as easy as she might have thought.

My Reaction

This is a charming story about how various plants, animals, creatures, and forces of nature are interconnected. The book doesn’t use the word “ecosystem“, but that’s the concept being described here. The garden’s ownership and the reason for its existence is much more than the gardener who owns the land and planted and tended the garden; it’s everything that’s growing in it, everything that contributes to its growth, and everything that depends on the garden. Without all of these creatures and natural forces put together, the garden wouldn’t be what it is.

The book doesn’t attempt to get scientific about the details of this garden ecosystem, and the animals wear clothes and talk, so the story isn’t meant to be entirely realistic. However, it is thought-provoking about how many different parts of nature affect each other. It could be a good book for introducing the topic to young children before teaching them about the science of ecosystems later. The rhyme scheme makes the story fun to read.

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Usborne First Book of Nature

Usborne First Book of Nature designed by David Bennett, 1980.

I remember getting this book as a present from my grandmother as a child because my grandmother was an amateur naturalist. Although it’s a nonfiction book, I’m sentimental about it for that reason.

The book is divided into four sections covering different types of plants and creatures (each of which has its own book in the Usborne collection, but this book is a compilation):

Birds

This chapter explains about the parts of birds, like the different shapes of beaks and feet different birds have, aspects of birds lives and behavior, and how birds fly.

Trees

This chapter explains the parts of trees, like how roots and twigs grow and the differences between different types of leaves, tree flowers, and seeds.

Flowers

This chapter explains the parts of flowers and about pollen and seeds. It also points out the creatures that like to visit flowers, like bees and hummingbirds.

Butterflies and Moths

This chapter explains the similarities and differences between butterflies and moths and what their life cycles are like.

One of the best parts of this book is that it is designed to be interactive as well as informative. Some of the activities are explained at the beginning of each chapter, and there’s a puzzle or game at the end of each chapter. The upper right corners of each chapter have images that are meant to be used as a flip book. In the bird section, readers can quickly flip the pages to watch a bird fly. In the tree section, a leaf bud opens. In the flower section, a flower opens. In the butterfly and moth section, a butterfly opens and closes its wings.

Each chapter also has a game where you hunt for different creatures within the pages of that chapter and see how many you can find, and then, there’s another game or puzzle at the end. At the end of the bird chapter, there’s a picture puzzle where you have to find all the birds hidden in a black-and-white picture. At the end of the tree section, you have to find how many products are made from or come from trees in a busy market scene. At the end of the flower chapter, you have to match up different types of fruits with their flowers. The butterfly and moth section doesn’t have a game at the end.

This book is available to borrow and read for free online through Internet Archive.

Posted on by TracyC

The Lottery Rose

LotteryRoseThe Lottery Rose by Irene Hunt, 1976.

Young Georgie Burgess has been abused his entire life by his mother, Rennie, and her boyfriend, Steve (who is not Georgie’s father, whose identity is unknown, Rennie says that she is a widow).  Rennie is an alcoholic, and she and Steve (who is the source of most of the violence in Georgie’s life) once deliberately burned the side of Georgie’s face when he was a baby because he wouldn’t stop crying and they were angry that they had run out of whisky.  Sometimes, they tie him up in a closet for days at a time with no food.  Other times, they beat him, even leaving scars.  When Rennie is confronted by the school nurse about Georgie’s injuries, she claims that Georgie is a problem child who gets into fights.  Georgie’s teacher believes that because Georgie is always acting up and doesn’t appear to learn anything, although he is actually smarter than he pretends to be.  Because the other adults in Georgie’s life either do not see his condition for what it is or do not want to acknowledge the truth of it, it is a long time before he gets the help he really needs.

Georgie’s early life is bleak, and at first, his future seems equally bleak.  The only people who seem to care about him at all are the school librarian and Mrs. Sims, who works at the grocery store.  Georgie’s real love in life is flowers.   He likes to borrow a book from the school library about flowers, and one day, he enters a drawing at the store and wins a rose bush of his very own!

It’s the best thing that ever happened to Georgie, but shortly afterward, Steve beats him so badly that the police are finally called.  Georgie is taken away from his mother, and for the first time, his life becomes different.  Georgie insists on bringing his precious rose bush with him when the police take him away, and it becomes instrumental in helping him reshape his life.

For a time, Georgie has to stay in the hospital to recover from his injuries, and then he stays with Mrs. Sims.  Unfortunately, as much as Mrs. Sims and her husband care for Georgie, they can’t afford to take care of him.  Instead, Georgie is sent to a Catholic boarding school with his new teacher and guardian, Sister Mary Angela.  Sister Mary Angela assures Georgie that he will be taken care of at the school and so will his rose bush.

Georgie thinks the school is ugly, but there is a beautiful house nearby with a beautiful garden.  It belongs to Mrs. Harper, who lost her husband and one of her sons in a tragic car accident.  Although Georgie isn’t supposed to go there, he can’t help himself.  It seems like the the perfect place for his rose bush . . . and maybe even for himself.

The tragedies and descriptions of child abuse in this story make it inappropriate for young children.  This would be a good book for kids at the middle school level, probably age twelve and up.

Georgie, who has never really known kindness in his life, blossoms like a rose at the school, making new friends for the first time and coming to terms with his past.  At the same time, Mrs. Harper, who is still suffering from the loss of her husband and son and also loses her other son (a child with developmental disabilities) during the course of the book, finds her heart warmed by Georgie.  Georgie has desperately needed a mother who acts like a real mother and really loves him, and Mrs. Harper comes to realize that she also needs a boy like Georgie to love.  While he is not a replacement for the sons she has lost, he does help to fill an empty place in her life, and the two of them become the family that each of them needs.

The book is currently available online through Internet Archive.