Product Description

"Building on a rhyme that will be familiar to many children, author-illustrator Cole creates an enticing guide to creating a garden. 'This is the garden that Jack planted...' The final illustration presents a satisfied-looking boy surrounded by a lush, bird-filled flower garden....A concluding page of gardening suggestions serves as a springboard to books with more specific guidelines."--Horn Book.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #233446 in Books
• Published on: 1997-03-28
• Original language: English
• Dimensions: .11" h x 11.94" w x 9.02" l, .38 pounds
• Binding: Paperback
• 32 pages

From School Library Journal
PreSchool-Grade 2?A cumulative story that traces a little boy's backyard flower garden from tilling the soil to enjoying the blossoms. The text delightfully catalogs the process in a take-off on the old rhyme "This Is the House That Jack Built." As the garden takes shape, readers see seedlings sprout and bud, flowers open, insects and birds visit and, at last, a lovely garden in full bloom. Each double-page spread is done in soft colored pencils on various colored background. The borders contain detailed labeled drawings of tools, insects, birds, eggs, and, of course, flowers. Instructions for starting a garden complete the presentation. A pretty book rather than a how-to, this would be helpful in a primary setting to introduce gardening or the growth cycle.?Beth Tegart, Oneida City Schools, NY
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Ages 4^-9. "This is the garden that Jack planted." Cumulative words and pictures are a great way to show how the parts of nature connect and grow together. In the first framed picture, the boy Jack stands in jeans, baseball cap, and sneakers--one hand on hip, the other holding his shovel, like the archetypal farmer in American Gothic confronting the world. Then, each double-page spread shows an additional link ("these are the insects that sipped nectar from the flowers . . . that grew from the seedlings that sprouted with the rain . . . that fell on the soil that made up the garden that Jack planted" ). Around each framed picture, small, labeled illustrations show the links in increasing detail: the names and types of seed, tools, clouds, and insects. Cole is an elementary-school science teacher, and his nature drawings in colored pencil on colored paper make for joyful learning, both precise and lovely. Hazel Rochman

Review
"Building on a rhyme that will be familiar to many children, ...--" The Horn Book