Patio Gardens

Children's Literature

Gardeners who feel left out of the growing season because they don't have enough land to plant are in for a treat when they take a look at this book in the Checkerboard Science Library "Gardening" series. The photograph on the cover is invitation enough to capture an audience of neophytes as well as experienced growers. From the very beginning, choosing a location to fertilizing to fall cleanup, Pupeza methodically describes what is needed to produce a successful patio or container garden. The illustrations and photographs adjacent to the text clearly incorporate directions and expected results to readers, as well as provide attractive explanations and suggestions. Ideas for unique containers are very creative—the wagon wheel example is both practical and fun. This book, along with others in this series, can easily be adapted to a biology/life sciences or elementary classroom assignment, whether it be as art, nutrition or a science unit. Reading the text may be a little challenging for those in grades K-3, but with the help of an instructor, and maybe a vocabulary test of the words in bold typeface, the content will become evident, and a group effort may result in a harvest by the closure of the school year. After reading this book I feel inspired to practice patio gardening, right on my front porch! 2002, ABDO Publishing,
— Elizabeth Young

School Library Journal

Gr 1-4-Each of these titles has approximately 13 text pages supplemented with full-page color photographs of plants and children, and diagrams. The illustrations of a plant's life cycle, a prepared pot, and common tools are the same in both books. Indoor is the weaker of the two titles. Recommended plants are marigolds and cosmos, which thrive outdoors. Children are also pictured planting beet seeds, not usually a first choice for indoor gardens. The selection of words to define seems random; "miniature" is in the glossary, but "terrarium" and "landscape" are not. Peat moss is defined as "a pale green moss-"-maybe in nature, but not in bags. Several of the tools shown do not relate to indoor gardening. Patio features some lovely examples of container gardens, although one picture is captioned, "Your front steps are a great spot to begin a patio garden," and front steps are not generally thought of as part of a patio. Because of topical overlap, most collections will be better served by Angela Wilkes's visually delightful My First Garden Book (Knopf, 1992; o.p.). Two excellent indoor gardening books are Carol Lerner's My Indoor Garden (Morrow, 1999) and Christina Bj rk's whimsical Linnea's Windowsill Garden (R & S, 1988). Sharon Lovejoy's Roots, Shoots, Buckets & Boots (Workman, 1999) will inspire experienced gardeners looking for creative ways to use containers.-Marilyn Payne Phillips, University City Public Library, MO Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.