Friday, April 15, 2016

Garden Colors

Creating  Authors - Growing Gardens - Photo Skills

It's always a delight to me when I come across a new book or two that connects in my mind with an "old" favorite title, and an interesting "book" activity  pops into my head. 
Today, I came across this 2016 series of books from Gareth Stevens Publishers -
Find out more & how to order from
https://www.garethstevens.com/series/Our-Favorite-Colors




The colorful jackets immediately caught my eye.  The photographs were engaging and I envision that the contents are equally as innovative.  A favorite three-year-old that frequently visits at my house LOVES orange so I immediately thought about how much he would love the We Love Orange! title.  And then my brain continued to dance through the possibilities, and the one that emerged on top is the idea of taking my digital camera and going into the community and finding "colors."  To focus on categorization, I would ask the camera operator to concentrate on one selected color.  Another color for another day -- go on a digital photo search for the color of your choice.

A great place to expand on the color idea is to visit community gardens and soak in the wonderful colors of radishes,  corn, and the lush greens of peas, string beans, lettuce, and other great food.  Share some garden books with children... stimulate their sense of color with these books.

Vegetables of all colors and shapes -- build vocabulary and awareness of fruits and vegetables that might be unfamiliar.

Eating the Alphabet: Fruits and Vegetables from A to Z by Lois Ehlert.













Growing Vegetable Soup - another book by Lois Ehlert.  Luscious brightly colored vegetables -- raise awareness of the colors that populate vegetable gardens.
Yes - a chant -- what fun! Work your way through the fruits find some you know and some you don't.  Build vocabulary and color recognition with this lyrical presentation.  Go, Go Grapes: A Fruit Chant by April Pulley Sayre.
 First fruits -- and now a chant featuring vegetables.  The same lush colors, new words, familiar words - and lots of familiar vegetables and some new ones as well.  Rah, Rah, Radishes! by April Pulley Sayre.

While your digital photographers might be looking for colors in vegetable and fruit books, they might be interested in knowing where these vegetables and fruits are grown.  While there are large farms that produce food for others, there is also a new movement to start and sustain urban gardens.

Find all the colors in Jacqueline Briggs Martin's Farmer Will Allen and the Growing Table.

All the colors of the gardens will be a visual (and perhaps a tasty) treat.




 
Jacqueline Briggs Martin - author of Farmer Will Allen and the Growing Table (and many other picture book titles) is available for author appearances -- find out more at McBookwords.
McBookwords has a dozen or more authors that speak with young readers.  If you would like to investigate having an author visit your school or library -- for an author appearance please contact us at McBookwords.  Each of these authors often speak  in schools with young readers, and at all types of groups that are interested in literacy and  books.