Gardening is kind of a big deal around here. We work to make it work every year. Our kids are getting older and are more of a help with the maintenance a garden requires. They actually love to water the plants and work along side us…usually.

This week for our alphabet activities, we read books about gardening. I’m going to share the picture books and kids’ nonfiction books here. If you are interested in books for teens and adults, check out my post over at The Library Adventure – 11 Gardening Books for Beginner to Advanced Gardeners.

If you’d like to dive a little deeper into this, check out my friend Tara’s Garden unit study.

Garden Picture Books

• Vegetable Garden by Douglas Florian (Easy Florian) – Simple text with bright, bold illustrations.
• One Potato: A Counting Book of Potato Prints by Diana Pomeroy (Easy Pomeroy) – This book has quite the country feel to it. There is a section in the back telling you how to do your own potato prints.
• Our Community Garden by Barbar Pollak (Easy Pollak) – I like how this book makes the connection between the plants in the garden with actual meals kids eat.
• The Imaginary Garden by Andrew Larsen (Easy Larsen) – Lovely illustrations in this story about a girl and her grandfather.
• Secrets of the Garden by Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld (Easy Zoehfeld) – There is a lot of info snuck in this fun book about a girl and her family’s garden.
• The Gardener by Sarah Stewart (Easy Stewart) – Lydia Grace moves to the city to live with her uncle and help in his bakery, but she dreams of gardens and works to make that dream a reality in the dreary city. Told in letters from Lydia Grace to various family members.

Gardening Nonfiction Books for Kids

• The Victory Garden Kids’ Book: A Beginner’s Guide to Growing Vegetables, Fruits, and Flowers by Marjorie Waters (j635) – The book is divided into two sections, How to Garden and Kids’ Crops. It is  handy book for kids looking to grow a garden (and their parents).
• Cool Jobs for Yard-Working Kids: Ways to Make Money Doing Yard Work by Pam Scheunemann (j635.964 S328 2011) – If you have a budding entrepreneur in your home like I do, you will like this one. It walks them through things they wouldn’t think of (safety) and how to get the word out about their new business venture. There are other books in this series that look promising, too. Cool Jobs for Handy Helpers, Kids Who Like Kids, Super Sales Kids, Young Entertainers, and Young Pet Lovers.
• Kids’ Container Gardening by Cindy Krezel (j635.986 K92 2005) – A lot of fun projects in this book, I hope to try some of them with my kids next month. There are both indoor and outdoor projects included.
• My Backyard Garden by Carol Lerner (j635 fL616 1998) – I’m a sucker for a garden book with sample plans/lay-outs. This one has two different sizes with a spring and a summer garden for the same bed. Then there is a month-by-month breakdown of things going on in the garden.
• The Vegetables We Eat by Gail Gibbons (j635 qG441 2007) – A fun breakdown of the vegetables we eat by what part of the plant we eat. I love Gail Gibbons books and I hope to add this one to our shelves soon.
• DK’s Ready Set Grow! Quick and Easy Gardening Projects (j635 qR287 2010) – This book could be used as a unit study all on its own. Lots and lots of projects to do here.