The subtitle says it all – Get Your Hands Dirty – and goodness knows, in a world of over-processed hyper-cleanliness, our children so need to sink their hands into the earth more than ever before.
Kids love to do mum and dad jobs, and gardening is such an enriching, educational and fun way to enjoy nature. There is a [compost] heap of fun gardening ideas for kids here – from growing flowers to creating a raised garden bed to growing veggies and even humungous fungus.
But this book doesn’t just immerse kids in the garden. It also features a virtual forest of fun activities kids that are garden-inspired – like making candied pansies with gelatin, making a lavender wand, drinking a flower, making printed wrapping paper with leaves and constructing a bird feeder.
Not only that – the book is also packed with fun scientific facts (yes, I learned lots!), photos, illustrations and fascinating dot points. Cleverly laid out and designed, this book is like a sophisticated activity book, only with a lot more meat (or should I say veggies) – plenty to keep kids busy and plenty for adults to coo over. Older kids can easily dive into with no parental aid, and younger kids will love perusing the pages.
Get back to nature – the kids will love it.
Title: Yates Young Gardener
Illustrator: Janie Marriott
Publisher: HarperCollins, $19.99
Publication Date: 1 December 2009
ISBN: 9781869507947
Format: Soft cover
For ages: 3 - 12
Type: Non-Fiction
