Behold our Magical Garden by Allan Wolf and Daniel Duncan for Candlewick Press is a book of poems centered around a school garden. I loved the author’s note at the end:
The word kindergarten is made up of two German words: Kinder (child) and Garten (garden)–literally a place where children grow. The teacher is the gardener. The students are the crop! No matter what grade you are in, there is nothing more magical than growing things.
I couldn’t agree more! I also love sharing poetry with my kiddos. The back of this book has notes on each poem and explanations of what they are making it much easier to share with your kiddos just in case you forgot the difference between rhyming couplets, onomatopoeia, ABAB poem stanzas, concrete poems, puns, irony, sarcasm, personification, etc. It’s not like it’s been (cough 20 years cough) a while since I graduated high school! Anywho, I love that this book makes poetry accessible, teachable, and fun to kids and grownups alike!
Ages: 5-10
Themes: Poetry, Gardening, Responsibility, School
