Grandma Lisa's Humming, Buzzing, Chirping Garden (book)

 

It is only when you want something that you realize there isn’t enough of it. Children’s books that thoughtfully and accurately talk about appreciating nature is one such item. Now that I have a grandchild of my own, I appreciate finding books that can inspire the youngest of us to recognize the value of what we do in our garden. Grandma Lisa's Humming, Buzzing, Chirping Garden is an excellent new one.

There are a number of things to like about this book, starting with the rhyming cadence that children love so much as well as the accurate depictions of native flowers (asters, beebalm, goldenrod, oh my!). I also particularly like how it tells the very real world story of taking an existing landscape and working through the steps to transform it into an actual habitat garden, including the step of removing the English ivy and other non-productive plants.

The book introduces children to a number of concepts (my grandson shouts “We need bugs!” every time that we read the line “But Grandma, why do we need bugs? Don’t they sting and bite?”). Just including ‘native plants’ into their growing vocabulary is incredibly worthwhile but you’ll also read to them about the ‘food web’ and why plants like violets are not weeds to the insects. For the curious older child, a glossary of terms is included at the end.

Three years ago, just after my grandson was born, I wrote about The Puddle Garden. Both books, as well as others for children, are available at The Pollination Press website which also has great books on bees, wasps, and supporting pollinators. I’ve ordered several copies for holiday gifts and door prizes for when we have meetings again.