First Garden: The White House Garden and How it Grew
Written and illustrated by: Robbin Gourley
Published by: Clarion Books, 2011
* I wish I could garden but I can't. Not just for lack of space, which is true. My backyard is very small and shady, so not very conducive for growing a garden. But I think I have a black thumb. Every year I attempt to grow vegetables in containers and every year I'm lucky if I get a handful of green beans and a couple of tomatoes. Last year I even started with tomato plants, given to me from my parents, rather than starting from seeds. But I keep trying and hoping! To help us start thinking about our container gardens (the kids always help me plant the seeds) I got us this book. We had recently read The House that George Built which described the building of the White House. This book goes a step further and describes the development of the First Garden. Beginning with First Lady Michelle Obama's concern about the health of the American people, Gourley then goes into detail about the designing and planting of the garden. I found it interesting that there's a beehive for about 60,000 bees that produces about eleven gallons of honey in the garden. I learned that some of the seedlings planted in the garden are passed down from plants grown over 200 years ago by Thomas Jefferson! I can only imagine (and drool) over a 1,100-square-foot garden with over 55 varieties of herbs, fruits, and vegetables.....although my garden would have beets! My daughter and I enjoyed this book but it did not hold my son's interest at all! He was crawling around the bed and fooling around while we were reading. At the end of the book Gourley includes "Good Reasons to Garden" and "Recipes from the White House." My daughter is excited to try out some of the recipes. This book is definitely not for everyone, but if you have a child who's interested in gardening, he or she may enjoy this book.
This book was borrowed from the library.
Family Rating: 1 thumb up.
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We don't have a yard, but I love to garden! Thanks for sharing at The Children's Bookshelf.
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