So begins this lyrical tribute to the bugs, bees, and birds that make the garden such a busy place. With each turned page, more visitors appear, and all the while the “surprise”—a chrysalis—changes unnoticed until, on the last page, a butterfly emerges and flies away across the garden’s well-tended borders. Back-of-book notes about the natural histories of the garden’s denizens complete this lovely and lively portrait of backyard nature, which is also a gentle meditation on the rewards of paying attention. A chipmunk hides on every page to divert and engage young readers.Fountas & Pinnell Level O This is my busy green garden. There’s a surprise In clever disguise, That hangs in my busy green garden. This is a ladybug dawdling so, Near the surprise, in clever disguise, That hangs in my busy green garden. This is a honeybee buzzing below The red spotted ladybug dawdling so, Near the surprise, in clever disguise, That hangs in my busy green garden.

Mel Bartholomew's top-selling Square Foot Gardening books have made his revolutionary garden system available to millions of people. In Square Foot Gardening with Kids, Mel reveals his tips, tricks, and fun projects in one of his most cherished pursuits: teaching youngsters to build and grow a SFG of their own. The easy geometry of the gridded box breaks the complex world of gardening into digestible bites for enthusiastic young learners, and the sequence of tasks required to grow plants from seeds is repeatable and reassuring. Kids learn many valuable life lessons when tending their own garden -- such as the importance of following instructions and doing your chores, basic skills like counting and water conservation, and learning to appreciate the nature of food and why it is important to respect it. Most importantly though, they learn that growing your own food is both fun and rewarding.

Sharpen STEAM skills—and have a blast—with educational gardening projects for kids 8 to 12 Discover how fun and educational growing plants can be. Gardening for Kids is packed with essential information for beginner gardeners and tons of awesome projects that help kids grow their science, technology, engineering, art, and math (STEAM) skills. Go outside with easy-to-try experiments that will teach you all about the environment, plants, and what it takes to grow and maintain your very own garden. Find out what your soil is made of, make a miniature greenhouse, race seeds, and so much more! Gardening for Kids provides: Gardening 101—Learn everything you need to get your garden started today, from basic safety tips to helpful advice on caring for your plants. 25 Gardening projects—Dig into the natural world with a ton of fun experiments like sprouting food scraps, building plant forts, and more—each one focusing on specific STEAM skills. A chance to grow together—This book features handy tips for expanding projects to work with groups of kids so you can share the fun in classrooms and community gardens. Grow a love of science, technology, engineering, art, and math—plus lots of plants—with Gardening for Kids.

Features gardening advice, including how to design a play-friendly garden, ideas for fun-filled theme gardens, and how to cook and preserve the garden's bounty.

Organic Gardening for Kids guides you through the process of creating a special place that will not only provide you and your family with organic food and ornamental flowers, but also attract butterflies, birds, and other local wildlife. Find out how to garden the all natural way.

In this step-by-step guide, you’ll find out how to plan, design, grow, and harvest your own vegetable garden. You’ll find that gardening is even more fun when you can eat what you have planted! You’ll learn which are the perfect plants to grow in your area, what tools you’ll need, and how to prepare a garden plot. You’ll also discover techniques to help your vegetables grow their best, such as which plants grow well together and which ones don’t. Do you have limited space? No problem. You can always grow a garden in creative containers. And while you’re tending your vegetable garden plot, you can follow the easy directions for making a hummingbird bath to bring even more life to your backyard.

A refreshing source of ideas to help your children learn to grow their own patch of earth, Gardening Lab for Kids encourages children to get outside and enjoy nature. This fun and creative book features 52 plant-related activities set into weekly lessons, beginning with learning to read maps to find your heat zone, moving through seeds, soil, composting, and then creating garden art and appreciating your natural surroundings.DIV /divDIVAuthor Renata Fossen Brown guides your family through fun opportunities learning about botany, ecology, the seasons, food, patience, insects, eating, and cooking. The labs can be used as singular projects or to build up to a year of hands-on outdoor experiences. The lessons in this book are open-ended to be explored over and over–with different results each time! Garden Lab for Kids is the perfect book for creative families, friends, and community groups and works as lesson plans for both experienced and new gardeners. Children of all ages and experience levels can be guided by adults and will enjoy these engaging exercises./divSo, slip on your muddy clothes, and get out and grow!