Growing Green: A First Book of Gardening

Illustrated by Daniela Sosa. Candlewick Press, 2025. 32 pages. $18.99/hardcover; $18.99/eBook.

When I was a little girl, I waited every summer for cantaloupes to show up in the produce section of the grocery store, and when they did, I knew that later that afternoon my mother would quarter them with her butcher knife and give me a section as a snack. Every year I enacted the same ritual: first pinching the slippery little seeds from the divot at the center of my slice of cantaloupe and then planting them in the same section of our suburban backyard. Every year a little green shoot would lift its head above the soil and begin to unfurl its tiny parasol of leaves, and I—full of hope—poured love and water over my babies: singing to them, talking to them, and making a list of favored people who would receive one of my homegrown melons in due time. And every year, my sprouts reached a height of about two inches only to turn pale, droop their heads, and die. It finally became so sad that I gave up.

If only I’d had a book like Growing Green: A First Book of Gardening.

This colorful book, splashed liberally throughout with charming collage paintings (the style reminds me of the work of Japanese American children’s book illustrator Gyo Fujikawa), contains every piece of information my younger self needed to have a happier horticultural outcome. There are a total of 15 projects, mostly of the kitchen garden variety but also including nasturtiums (which I learned are edible) and sunflowers. No instructions are given for melons, but here are pumpkins, potatoes, endless salad greens, and even avocados. The instructions are simply written enough for the intended child audience but so non-condescending and richly informative that brown-thumbed adults will also learn something.

A table of contents and “getting started” page guide the budding gardener through the projects, which are amply provided with details a beginner will need: from planting times and environments (adjusted as needed for different areas of the United States) to material lists and instructions for how to prepare, always stating when adult help will be needed. (Time-pinched parents need not worry; such help consists of nothing more daunting than removing lids from cans and punching holes with a hammer and nail.) An easy-to-follow numbered timeline, laid out on illustrations of long green vines, gives clear, precise steps. There are even fun facts on some pages: nutritional content, botanical information, cultural tidbits, and creative suggestions for personalizing projects and making them more beautiful and enjoyable.

Environmentally conscious readers will appreciate the focus on growing naturally (no pesticides) and using things that would normally end up in trash, such as toilet paper tubes and eggshells. I was particularly pleased that nearly all of the projects are appropriate for families that live in the city with little space. Plants can be grown on balconies and in containers—no big yard needed. I especially loved the first project: growing strawberries in an old rain boot.

Growing Green is as packed with information as your windowsill could be soon with edible plants. Children using this book will increase their vocabularies and even have the opportunity to put some new math skills to practical use: measuring, spacing, subtracting, and learning how to keep track of the passage of days, weeks, and months. Adults will enjoy the opportunity to spend good, productive time with the children in their lives as they both learn skills and add more nutrition to family meals in the process. I highly recommend this book.

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Rebecca Robinson is a member of Richmond (Va.) Meeting. A graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University with a background in literature and journalism, she lives in Richmond with her husband and two daughters.