Gardening

Picture Books:
Roots, Shoots, Buckets, & Boots by Sharon Lovejoy. Workman Publishing, New York. 1999.

• Instructions for themed gardens for children
• Includes pizza garden and sunflower houses among others

Planting a Rainbow by Lois Ehlert

The Carrot Seed

Jamberry by Bruce Degen

Gregor Mendel: The Friar Who Grew Peas by Cheryl Bardoe

Anno's Magic Seeds by Mitsumasa Anno Our 9 year old enjoyed doing the math in his head

Jack's Garden by Henry Cole What went in the garden next to the House that Jack Built?

The Bee Tree by Patricia Polacco Is anything as sweet as honey or as worth pursuing?

9 Fruits Alive by Mindy MacDonald--the fruits of the Holy Spirit

Poetry Speaks to Children some insect/bee poems

Child's Garden of Verses by RL Stevenson

Adult Books:

All New Square Foot Gardening by Mel Bartholomew

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingslover

Other:

Real Learning blog gardening rabbit trail--I requested all the books from the library

Snakes

The Singing Snake by Stefan Czernecki and Timothy Rhodes. Hyperion Books for Children, New York. 1993.

• Australian aboriginal folktale with artwork in the style of aboriginal paintings
• Explanation of origin of didgeridoo and phrase "snake in the grass"

Verdi by Janell Cannon

• Picture book story of a python who resists changing from a daredevil to a laze-about-in-the-tree sort of snake.
• Kids were excited to listen to music by Verdi after reading this

Sea Snakes by D. M. Souza

• Non-fiction about true sea snakes with photographs
• includes some info about land snakes who hunt in the water and sea kraits

Greatest Survival Stories Ever Told by Lamar Underwood

• Excerpt from the non-fiction book The Long Walk tells about surviving in the Gobi by eating snakes--read aloud
• Also includes Rikki Tikki Tavi by Kipling

Forty Dreams of St. John Bosco

• includes dream called "the Snake and the Rosary" about 5 pages long. Read aloud

Make a snake circle book--we used it to record life cycle

Snake Tales Naturalist MacBeth Derham's story about catching and getting bitten by a snake at age 10. Read aloud.

The Day Jimmy's Boa Ate the Wash by Trinka Hakes Noble

• Silly "domino effect" story. The kids loved it