My Garden
Author: Kevin Henkes
Illustrator: Kevin Henkes
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Year of Publication: 2010
Genre: Fiction
Horn Book or Kirkus Review Rating: Horn Book (1) and Starred Kirkus Review
Illustrator: Kevin Henkes
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Year of Publication: 2010
Genre: Fiction
Horn Book or Kirkus Review Rating: Horn Book (1) and Starred Kirkus Review
Summary: A young girl helps her mom take care of her garden when she notices that there are weeds and other things that she does not like (carrots). The young girl imagines a garden of her own.
Summary of Professional Reviews: This book is great for all children to envision what their ideal fantasy garden may look like. Henkes does a great job at catering to children's love of sweets when he talks about the bunnies being chocolate and the jelly bean trees. The Horn Books says that this story "creates the strange appeal to ordinary objects." Kirkus says that Henkes "hist every imagination note right." His illustrations are just as fun as the text. The Horn Book calls his illustrations "playful", while Kirkus calls them "intimate."
Review by Katie Henderson: I think that this is a wonderful book to read to young children to expand their imagination. This book goes outside the box when it says that the young girl would plant jelly beans to see if a jelly bean tree would grow. Most children are very imaginative when they are young, and this story reinforces that concept. The illustrations are just as fun and colorful as the words on the page. They compliment the words very well to show the true imagination of the young girl in the story.
This book would be useful when teaching...children about gardening. Obviously, this story does a lot of talking about gardens. The children could discuss which plants could actually grow in this garden and which are imaginary. To expand this even more, the teacher can incorporate a classroom garden. Each student can plant a seed and see how it grows. Or, the teacher can bring in small sea shells that the children can plant. This way the children can see if something does grow when you plant a sea shell.
Summary of Professional Reviews: This book is great for all children to envision what their ideal fantasy garden may look like. Henkes does a great job at catering to children's love of sweets when he talks about the bunnies being chocolate and the jelly bean trees. The Horn Books says that this story "creates the strange appeal to ordinary objects." Kirkus says that Henkes "hist every imagination note right." His illustrations are just as fun as the text. The Horn Book calls his illustrations "playful", while Kirkus calls them "intimate."
Review by Katie Henderson: I think that this is a wonderful book to read to young children to expand their imagination. This book goes outside the box when it says that the young girl would plant jelly beans to see if a jelly bean tree would grow. Most children are very imaginative when they are young, and this story reinforces that concept. The illustrations are just as fun and colorful as the words on the page. They compliment the words very well to show the true imagination of the young girl in the story.
This book would be useful when teaching...children about gardening. Obviously, this story does a lot of talking about gardens. The children could discuss which plants could actually grow in this garden and which are imaginary. To expand this even more, the teacher can incorporate a classroom garden. Each student can plant a seed and see how it grows. Or, the teacher can bring in small sea shells that the children can plant. This way the children can see if something does grow when you plant a sea shell.