In South Africa, September brings Spring celebrations and perhaps flowers in the classroom for some lucky teachers. At Book Village, we had a look at books in our library inspired by nature, and some of the books that will take you into the exciting, secret and terrifying gardens essential for every childhood.
Fiction Books
1.The Tale of Peter Rabbit, set in the wonderful and frightening vegetable garden of Mr. McGregor is probably one of the first books many children will remember being read to them. Peter is told by his mother not to go into Mr. McGregor’s garden, but of course he did and – you know the rest!
2. The children in The Secret Garden, by Frances Hodgson Burnett work together to plant their own garden of happiness. The magic of the growth and new life in the secret garden will make every child want to go out and experience the wonder of growing something for themselves.
3. Alice is desperate to get into the “loveliest garden you ever saw”. “How she longed to get out of that dark hall, and wander about among those beds of bright flowers and those cool fountains” as she peers out through the tiny door. From Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll.
4. In The Tree Doctor, Dr Seuss’ Cat in the Hat and Dr Twiggles help Sally and Nick discover why their tree won’t grow. This is written for children learning to read and is perfect for Spring reading and Arbour Day celebrations.
5. We love Richard Scarry, and Lowly Worm Meets the Early Bird is another book for beginner readers to enjoy. Early Bird looks and looks for a worm to play with. He is about to give up searching when he meets Lowly Worm.
6. The Garden Thief by Gertrude Chandler Warner is a book in the Boxcar Children Series, perfect for children in grades 2-6 to read by themselves. Something strange is happening in the community garden! Who is stealing all the veggies?
We have many interesting non-fiction books that we hope might inspire children to think about nature. Here are three that we think our children will really enjoy.
Non-fiction Books
7. Counting Birds by Heidi Stemple is the award-winning story behind the first annual bird count in America. It is a beautifully illustrated book that introduces children to the idea of bird counts and hopefully will inspire them to get involved in conservation at home.
8. Eavesdropping on Elephants. Patricia Newman takes readers behind the scenes at the Cornell University’s Elephant Listening Project to see how scientists are making new discoveries about elephant communication and how they are using what they learn to help with elephant conservation.
9. South African children might have their own experiences of vervet monkeys and will surely enjoy Nicko, the Tale of a Vervet Monkey on an African Farm by Penny Haw. This is the true story of Alice Kirk and the adventures of Nicko, the baby vervet monkey that was found abandoned on her home farm in the Kwa-Zulu Natal midlands.
There really is a story for every season, and most of the books mentioned are available from the Gauteng Provincial Online Library.
