Roots, Shoots, Buckets and Boots: Gardening together with Children
- Book Review,
by Sharon Lovejoy
Amazon.com
Green thumbs and non-green thumbs alike will fall in love with Roots, Shoots, Buckets, & Boots, a remarkably fun and informative introduction to the wonderful world of gardening--and more specifically, gardening with children. Learn how to make everything from a pizza garden (pizza-pie-shaped, with herbs and vegetables for a fabulous pizza at harvest time), to a sunflower house (a secret hideaway with stately sunflowers and lovely creeping morning glories), to a moon garden ("Fragrance is the color of night"). Chock full of helpful hints, clever and artistic touches, and intriguing "recipes" (Moth Broth and Compost Sandwich, to name a few), this idea book will spark creativity and a lifelong fascination with gardening. Nine concepts for theme gardens are presented in a clearly defined yet non-rigid manner that is just right for encouraging young gardeners. Sharon Lovejoy, award-winning author and illustrator of several gardening books, including Hollyhock Days: Garden Adventures for the Young at Heart, has a true knack for working with all kinds of living things, including children. She understands how quickly young people will be turned off by inflexible rules, and instead encourages budding green thumbs to experiment and explore, while providing them with useful guidelines and helpful information. Wonderfully earthy watercolors make this cozy book even more welcoming. (All ages) --Emilie Coulter
From School Library Journal
Grade 1-4-A compact treasury of gardening lore, tips, and ideas for adults to share with children. What sets it apart from other how-to books on the subject is Lovejoy's artistic, whimsical, holistic approach. She gives guidelines and instructions for a backyard moon garden that attracts night creatures, thematic suggestions for a pizza garden and a pumpkin patch, and includes the smallest of gardens in a discarded glove or boot. The author's list of top 20 plants for kids will get youngsters and their parents raring to dig. While some of the recommended plants are unusual, a generous resource list complete with addresses, phone numbers, and Web sites should make ordering easy. Other novel, thrifty advice includes how to harvest seeds and how to make your own seed tape with toilet paper, flour paste, and seeds. The sunny illustrations, informative sidebars, and nuggets of wisdom illuminate the text. Readers can almost picture Mother Nature leaning over Lovejoy's shoulder advising: "Don't forget herbal remedies" (she doesn't) or "Do include craft ideas" (she does-from a prosaic worm box to fanciful dream pillows).Marilyn Payne Phillips, University City Public Library, MO Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Book Page / Michael Sims
June 1999 "She (author Sharon Lovejoy) writes clearly and with the casual authority of long standing expertise. Sharon Lovejoy has created a career out of as noble an activity as you can imagine-teaching children to stay connected with the earth. Gardening painlessly teaches patience and foresight, encourages imagination, and demonstrates how the natural world works."
Koen Book Distributors
"Wow! I really like this book...from the incredibly charming illustrations to the profuse amount of gardening information, Roots, Shoots, Buckets & Boots is a winner. Its aimed at getting children to connect to nature through gardening, and through the many entertaining and downright wonderful ideas for theme gardens that shouldnt be too hard...Its a perfect way to both get your kid interested in gardening and provide inspiration for yourself.
Art Vision Arts & Entertainment Guide
"This is a beautifully illustrated book that serves as an invitation to all adults to celebrate the earth with a child, by taking the time to garden together and journey together into your back yard, thereby establishing 'roots.'"
Barbara Youngblood, Childrens Literature
"Talk about a powerhouse book on gardening, this is it. From the "Top 20 Plants for Kids" to specialized gardens like the Moon Garden, Giant Garden, or Zuni Garden a wealth of information is presented to the reader. Several short vignettes and poems about gardening are found throughout each chapter. Ideas that can be achieved in small spaces are quite fun and challenging. I think Ill try the Flowery Maze myself next summer. What fun!"
Los Angeles Times
"...If you don't haven't any kids, borrow some - the dozen theme gardens at the heart of this book beg to be tried."
SPECIAL TO MSNBC.COM Aug. 1, 2000 by Maureen Picard Robins
“Roots, Shoots, Buckets & Boots...a(nother) marvelous resource....Her gardens are neatly planned and thoroughly do-able, even for novices.”
Washington Parent by Martina Taliaferro, Ed.D.
"...an excellent reference book to enjoy all winter and then put into action on the first day of spring."
Utah Agriculture in the Classroom (AITC) Recommended Literature List
"Highly recommend it for anyone who has a child in his/her life -- or for ... the child within them."
Science Activities,“Book Reviews” by Dr. Frances B. Shuler, Pembrook Elementary School, Virginia Beach, VA
"... libraries and teachers’ resource shelves should have a place on their shelves for this book."
Connecticut Parent
"...the projects ... are not only kid-friendly but also give a child reason to stick it out from planting to harvest."
Book Description
Plant a pumpkinseed with a child, and cultivate wonder. This simple act of reconnecting with children with nature is Sharon Lovejoy's purpose and joy and gift. Author of Sunflower Houses: Garden Discoveries for Children of All Ages and Hollyhock Days: Garden Adventures for the Young at Heart, Sharon Lovejoy is a nationally known garden writer whose books, television specials, and projects at her learning landscape in California have introduced thousands of children to the pleasures of gardening.
In her newest book, Roots, Shoots, Buckets & Boots, she presents 12 spirited, easy-to-implement ideas for theme gardens that parents and kids can grow together. Illustrated throughout by the author's own lyrical watercolors, each garden includes a plan, the planting recipe -- seeds, seedlings, and growing instructions spelled out step-by-step -- and activities. There's the Pizza Patch , a giant-size wheel garden planted in "slices" of tomatoes, zucchini, oregano, and basil. A Flowery Maze to get lost in. A Moon Garden of night-blooming flowers, including a moonflower tent. And Mother Nature's Medicine Chest.
Discovery Walks teach kids how the gardens work, and a chapter on gardening basics includes a child-friendly 10-Minute Plan for planting and maintenance, plus a list of the top 20 plants guaranteed to make gardeners out of kids.
From the Author
In the introduction, it states, "Although these gardens are filled with edible plants, not all parts of every plant are edible. For example, while potatoes and tomatoes are edible, their stem, flowers, and leaves are poisonous. Teach your kids never to sample anything in their gardens until they check with you." While anything in nature may be a "potential natural hazard," the degree of hazard depends on the concentration, which is beyond the scope of this book. Children should be under adult supervision and guidance.
From the Back Cover
The simple act of connecting children to nature through gardening is Sharon Lovejoy's special purpose and joy. In her newest book, ROOTS, SHOOTS, BUCKETS & BOOTS, she presents 12 spirited, easy-to-implement ideas for theme gardens that parents and kids can grow together. Illustrated with the author's own lyrical watercolors, each project includes a plan and the planting recipe--as well as a "Discovery Walk," activities and crafts to make with what you grow.
About the Author
Sharon Lovejoy is the author and illustrator of the award-winning Sunflower Houses: Garden Discoveries for Children of All Ages and Hollyhock Days: Garden Adventures for the Young at Heart. She is also a contributing editor to Country Living Gardener magazine. Her famous teaching garden at Heart's Ease in Cambria, California has been a learning landscape for thousands of young people.
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
FROM THE INSTRUCTIONS ON HOW TO MAKE A MOON GARDEN: f you think that nothing happens in your yard after dark, you're in for a big surprise. Magic happens and miracles unfold when you plant a garden with nightblooming flowers. Under a full moon, your garden looks enchanted, glowing luminously in the night. Critters you never see in daylight stop for snacks; some stay to raise families. And you'll be able to watch it all happening from behind the leafy walls of a vine-covered tent. Fragrance is the color of night. When evening comes in the Moon Garden, pale flowers that look bedraggled and tired during the day lift their heads, open, and release their potent perfumes. Giant, fairylike moths slip from hiding places and follow invisible pathways of fragrance through the moonlight. Bats awaken, stretch their wings, and fly overhead in search of insects. Toads, frogs, glowworms, and fireflies become your guests. Spread out your flowery welcome mat and wait for darkness to fall. MOON GARDEN--Ingredients Inside the Crescent: 2 seedlings, jasmine tobacco 2 seedlings, evening primrose 2 seedlings, four-o'clocks 2 seedlings, evening-scented stock The Borders: 2 six-packs, white alyssum 2 six-packs, white petunias 2 six-packs, white yarrow The Tent: 6 seedlings, moonflowers rope 5 6-foot bamboo poles or 2-by-2-inch lumber Excerpted from Roots, Shoots, Buckets & Boots by Sharon Lovejoy. Copyright (c) 1999. Reprinted with permission by Workman Publishing.
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