Welcome to #nf10for10 with Books for Growing/Gardening

Welcome to Nonfiction 10 for 10 for 2019!  We are so excited to have you stop by today and explore nonfiction books with other book lovers.   The three of us; @mandyrobek, @cathymere, and @jacbalen can't wait to connect with everyone and we are grateful to learn from each of you stopping by today.  Please share the link to your post in the comments and use the hashtag #nf10for10 on social media platforms.         

Today I'm sharing 10 books I'm discovering and collecting to encourage and fostering interest in using our greenhouse and outdoor spaces at my school.  When my girls were little and our house was new to us, I often spent Sunday evenings working in my flower beds.  I asked my gardening grandmother why I seemed to have this Sunday evening habit and she said something like - digging in the earth is good for us, it helps with our thinking.  I think there's something there and am excited to learn about incorporating outside learning in my classroom.

These are in no particular order -

Planting the Wild Garden by Kathryn O Galbraith is a beautiful book explaining how seeds travel and  offer us surprises.  The seed travel examples include; birds, plants, wind, water, animals, and people.  The pencil and watercolor illustrations by Wendy Anderson Halperin are warm, soft, and informative.  I love her collage format that shares lots of visuals and stages for each text idea.

Garbage Helps Our Garden Grow - A Compost Story by Linda Glaser is a beautiful photo essay sharing the experience of a family that compost in their backyard.  I personally try composting and was inspired to be more diligent.  I think seeing other children composting will be inspirational for my students.  The back of the book as a Q and A format with simple directions for a small scale compost experiment in a garden pot.  I see us trying this in our classroom.

A Harvest of Color by Melanie Eclare is another photo essay with children sharing their growing story.  In this book each child shares what the vegetable they grow and how they do it.  Then there is a notebook page illustration with growing tips.  This will be an inspirational guide for us to try; carrots, radishes, potatoes, zucchini, and beans.

Our School Garden by Rick Swann is a hodgepodge of all things garden.  Its poetry and informative with how to while sharing tidbits of school garden history.  The Author's Note is just fantastic and probably one I will read at a staff meeting - "School gardens are, in fact, libraries full of life, mystery, and surprise."  Found in How to Grow a School Garden - isn't it wonderful when a book sends you to another book for more learning?

City Green by DyAnne DiSalvo-Ryan was technically found in the fiction section of my school library.  I'm sharing it today because it shares the story of a community coming together over an empty city lot and how they create a beautiful garden together.  I love the purpose of city gardens and how people can come together.  Another story done in watercolor and pencil creating soft warm illustrations to enjoy.

Up in the Garden and Down in the Dirt by Kate Messner is the perfect book for second graders in Ohio learning about animals in a garden habit.  Kate provides a pattern; above the ground and below the ground.  The below the ground pages are fascinating.  I didn't realize there were so many creatures living and working within a garden community.

Yucky Worms by Vivan French is a must have to children.  I've studied worms before with students and they LOVE it.  This book has guidance for being a wormologist!  Sign me up!  This book blends genres.  It's a conversation between a grandma and a grandchild filled with facts.  I love the subtle nonfiction features which might help reluctant nonfiction readers.

Edible Colors by Jennifer Vogel Bass is a book for emerging readers and a simple text for older readers that introduces them to expand their thinking.  For example; "Corn is yellow.  It is also blue." Then a page follows with what else is blue.  Did you know there are blue pumpkins, squash, and potatoes?

Compost Stew An A to Z Recipe for the Earth by Mary McKenna Siddals is a good reminder how informative an alphabet book can be!  The author shares 26 items we can use to compost and enrich our soil while saving our landfills.

First Peas to the Table by Susan Grigsby teaches the reader about Thomas Jefferson's love for gardening and how a classroom replicates Thomas Jefferson's "A First Peas to the Table Contest."  This book is filled with growing tips, readjustments needed, and a story format with an invitation to garden.  I immediately want to read this book during our history standards and grow peas with my students.  There's also a book about by the author and illustrator due titled, In the Garden with Dr. Carver.

(I might have just snuck in an 11th title - thank you for stopping by and fostering #booklove)