Up in the Garden and Down in the Dirt

Up in the garden, the world is full of green—leaves and sprouts, growing vegetables, ripening fruit. But down in the dirt there is a busy world of earthworms digging, snakes hunting, skunks burrowing, and all the other animals that make a garden their home. In this exuberant and lyrical book, discover the wonders that lie

Growing Minds Day by Day: Week of March 30

This week’s theme is mud and soil. Welcome to “Growing Minds Day by Day”, a compilation of educational resources for use by families and educators during the COVID-19 quarantine (and beyond!). Each week, the Growing Minds team will select a theme related to food, gardens, or nature, and share thematic recommendations for children’s literature, activities, recipes, and online resources. 

Carl and the Meaning of Life

Carl is an earthworm. He spends his days happily tunneling in the soil until a field mouse asks him a simple question that stops him short: “Why?” Carl’s quest takes him on an adventure to meet all the animals of the forest, each of whom seems to know exactly what they were put on this

Compost Stew: An A to Z Recipe for the Earth

This delightful read will inform young “environmental chefs” about the do’s and don’ts of composting.  Mary McKenna Siddals draws you in by mentioning familiar household items that can be composted, but also introduces some not-so-familiar composting substances that will leave students wanting to dig deeper (both figuratively and literally)!

Underground

What happens undergound? Creatures dig, plants put down roots, worms tunnel… This book introduces students to the vast array of life that occurs under the ground.

Garbage Helps our Garden Grow

Illustrated with vibrant photographs, this story explains how food and garden scraps break down into compost. Follow along as a family composts their table scraps (even their old Jack-o-lantern!) in the backyard bin, eventually using the resulting compost to enrich the soil for the spring garden.

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