Plant a pumpkinseed with a child, and cultivate wonder. This simple act of reconnecting with children with nature is Sharon Lovejoy's purpose and joy and gift. Author of Sunflower Houses: Garden Discoveries for Children of All Ages and Hollyhock Days: Garden Adventures for the Young at Heart, Sharon Lovejoy is a nationally known garden writer whose books, television specials, and projects at her learning landscape in California have introduced thousands of children to the pleasures of gardening.

In her newest book, Roots, Shoots, Buckets & Boots, she presents 12 spirited, easy-to-implement ideas for theme gardens that parents and kids can grow together. Illustrated throughout by the author's own lyrical watercolors, each garden includes a plan, the planting recipe -- seeds, seedlings, and growing instructions spelled out step-by-step -- and activities. There's the Pizza Patch , a giant-size wheel garden planted in "slices" of tomatoes, zucchini, oregano, and basil. A Flowery Maze to get lost in. A Moon Garden of night-blooming flowers, including a moonflower tent. And Mother Nature's Medicine Chest.

Discovery Walks teach kids how the gardens work, and a chapter on gardening basics includes a child-friendly 10-Minute Plan for planting and maintenance, plus a list of the top 20 plants guaranteed to make gardeners out of kids.

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For example, the Moon Garden features fragrant, luminous flowers twining around a pole tent. Sit in the tent at night to discover that "fragrance is the color of night." Along the way, learn which animals are active at night, how to tell the temperature by listening to crickets, and how to attract moths with homemade moth broth. At the end of the season, hold a seed-saving party.

In the Zuni Waffle Garden, "dig into the ancient traditions of Native American gardeners and harvest some of their best ideas for your own backyard." Learn about waxing and waning moon cycles, plant the "Three Sisters of Life" like the Iroquois, and sing a traditional Indian song to your plants. Finish off the season with a harvest celebration by making Indian corn jewelry and cornstalk animals.

The author's enchanting watercolors are a perfect match to the text, and even children who cannot read will enjoy looking at the colorful garden images.

In Gardening Basics, Lovejoy's straightforward, concise explanations are perfect for beginning gardeners of any age. Get to know your soil, learn about organic gardening methods, and discover why compost is "garden health food." Garden maintenance is tailored to kids with the ten-minute plan and an explorer's kit.

You'll buy the book for the imaginative theme gardens; you and your child will keep coming back to it for the tidbits of advice and activities sprinkled throughout book. Don't plan a child's garden without this book!

36 of 38 found the following review helpful:

Great Book - But be careful to avoid poisoning!Apr 03, 2002

This really is an enjoyable gardening book. However, since it is
a children's gardening book, I feel caution should be given
concerning some of the plant/seed suggestions.

For example, the sunflower house ingredients include Morning
Glories (part of the Ipomea family). All members of the
Ipomea family have seeds that are mildly to highly toxic. As Morning Glory flowers set seed readily, seeds will abound in the area in which they are planted. This may not be a problem in a
household with older children. For the younger set though, this
could be a poisoning accident waiting to occur.

As well, recommendations for the Moon Garden include jasmine
tobacco, moonflowers and four-o-clocks. Jasmine tobacco (Nicotiana alata) contains a highly toxic alkaloid, nicotine (think cigarettes), which is readily absorbed through ingestion or via contact with scrapes or cuts on the skin from handling the plant. Moonflowers (ipomea alba) belong to the same family as Morning Glories and their seeds should be considered potentially dangerous if eaten in any quantity. Four-o-clocks (mirabilis jalapa)have poisonous seeds and roots.

In the introduction to the book, Lovejoy write "Since children will be touching and eating some of the plants, gardens should never be treated with herbicides, fungicides or pesticides." This is wise counsel, but given the potential natural hazard created by some of the suggested plants in the book, warning should be given to prospective gardeners (of all ages)concerning the caution required when choosing to introduce plants (especially
those that set seed readily) into a child's garden.

25 of 25 found the following review helpful:

What an inspirational gardening book - for kids AND adults!Sep 16, 1999

This book was an impulse buy for me at a local department store. Boy am I glad I trusted my impulse! This book provides kids with easy to follow garden "recipes". A great book for parents and grandparents who want to share the joys of gardening with the children in their lives. The idea gardens presented make it difficult for kids to resist the urge to get out and grow something in their backyard! My kids are having a hard time deciding which 2 (or 3, or 4) gardens to try this next Spring!

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