Flowers!

It's spring!  Rain is falling in Southern California (shocker!!) and flowers are blooming everywhere!  It's the perfect time to read some picture books about flowers as we all start working on those gardens!!

Planting a Rainbow by Lois Ehlert:  I am a huge fan of this bright, bold, colorful book.  We follow plants from their start as bulbs or seeds, add water and sun, and watch as the rainbow garden grows. The plants are labeled throughout the book, and even though they're drawn abstractly, my daughter was still able to properly identify some of the same flowers in our neighborhood based on this book.  And how cool is that -- planting flowers in a garden so that when they bloom, they're in the order of a rainbow -- red orange yellow green blue purple!  My gal's favorite color is blue, and so her favorite page of the book shows all blue flowers:  morning glories, delphinium, hyacinth and cornflowers.  Love it!  We want to plant a rainbow garden of our own!

Alison's Zinnia by Anita Lobel:  The flowers are so beautifully drawn in the book, that even though it's an alphabet book (with a flower for each letter of the alphabet), that's not where the eye is drawn to.  It's on the realistic illustrations.  My daughter liked comparing the flowers in this book to those in Planting a Rainbow (above) as she learned about the difference between realistic and abstract styles of art.

Wildflower ABC:  An Alphabet of Potato Prints by Diana Pomeroy:  This is another alphabet book with a flower for each letter -- but it's different for several reasons.  First, it's about wildflowers, not your typical garden flowers.  (For example, the other two books above have daffodils in them -- this has a dandelion for "D".)  Also,  the method the author used -- potato prints -- is different from the normal style of illustrating books.  This was an art form that I needed/wanted to learn more about (see the links below).  And as they're wildflowers, during the drought we're experiencing in Southern California, it's nice to see more natural, water-conserving plants highlighted.

Learn More:

• KidsGardening!:  Not sure how to start a garden with your kids?  What are cool plants to grow?  And how do you keep them interested once the planting is done?  There are tons of recommendations in their Family Room.  Want to start a garden with your class?  Need to find a grant to get one going?  Check out the Teachers' Resource Room. 

• Try making some potato prints yourself!  For basic ones, try this one at World Book or this one at Family Education.   For getting fancy and trying something more advanced, check out how to make Shaded Potato Prints, which also has a brief interview with Diana Pomeroy on how she makes her prints for her books.

• Flower Crafts for Kids:  There are all kinds of fun flower crafts here!

• Flower Origami for Kids:  Origami is cool.  Flowers are cool.  Perfect!

• Wildflower Coloring Pages:  The US Forest Service provides AMAZING pictures to color.  They have color-by-numbers, coloring books, even noxious weeds!!