Middle Grade Non Fiction Review: Picture A Garden by Linda Hornberg

 

Book Details:

Book Title:  Picture A Garden by Linda Hornberg
Category: Middle-Grade Non-Fiction (Ages 8-12), 160 pages
Genre: Children's Non-Fiction. 
Publisher: Peanut Butter Publishing
​Publication Date: January 28, 2025.
Content Rating: G: Topics only include gardening and being outdoors. ​

 

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About the Book

What springs to mind when you hear the word GARDEN? Would it surprise you to learn that the world just outside your door is overflowing with art, science, humor, drama, intrigue, and colorful personalities? Nature has you surrounded. It's time to come out with your hands gloved and your feet galoshed, ready to sow some spinach, pick a peony, mulch a maple, root a rose, graft a grape, stake a spruce, water a walnut, and hug a hemlock.

Set down your screens and take up your trowel.

Adventure awaits!

The stories inside this book are nearly all true. I have never actually seen a chorus line of worms decked out in feather boas, but I can guarantee that there are plenty of real-life larvae out there merrily chewing up the scenery. You can turn orange from eating too many carrots, and there really is a tiny plant island called a liverwart--although there probably are no tiny castaways living on it. Welcome to gardening for smarties. Never stop thinking, wondering, and digging, and you’ll never be bored. Have fun.​

 

My Review

 

"Picture A Garden" is a Unique, Detailed Field Guide. I love the detailed content and illustrations presented in this book! The font is interesting, and the pages are filled from edge to edge with stories, scientific facts, and engaging illustrations and ideas. I love the content on the pages of this book, but I'm not sure that I'd really classify it as a middle-grade-level book. In fact, I read a few pages and had to verify that it was intended as a book for 8-12-year-old readers. While the text is readable for that age level, I'm not sure that the interest and attention level would match with younger readers in the middle school range. 

The Book Offers So Much Information! I think it would be a great book for families to use as supplemental material for science education or for adults interested in various garden aspects. I would certainly use it as a lesson starter or supplement. The concepts and ideas are presented in easy-to-understand formats and offer readers many learning opportunities. For example, the section on flower arrangements provides so many pieces of information that are amazing launching points for families seeking to learn about flower shapes and types. The pages offer lots of ideas for families to use in planning hands-on educational activities.  

Would I Recommend "Picture a Garden" by Linda Hornberg? I don't think this is a book that my daughters would have read on their own as preteens--but we would have loved to dive into the content presented on the pages as a family. As an adult with an interest in gardening and nature, I love the detailed content and presentation of  this book! The style and format almost remind me of an Old Farmer's Almanac and the pages are engaging and interesting. This isn't a book that you'll read cover-to-cover in a sitting or two, but it is a book filled with ideas and engaging learning opportunities that families (and older adults) would love to journey through!

 

Buy the Book

AMAZON ~ B&N
add to goodreads

 

Meet the Author

Linda Robin Hornberg grew up in New York, drawing endless paper dolls and adventure comics with her sisters, Brenda and Heidi. She also enjoyed collecting shiny mimosa seeds in little bottles, nibbling parsley from Mom's tomato patch, sword fighting with Iris leaves and flipping cicadas back onto their feet. Her incessant doodling landed her at the Hartford Art School. She received her BFA in Printmaking from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Further formal studies led to classes in children's illustration and certification in landscape horticulture.

Linda is a permanent transplant to Seattle, where she remains an enthusiastic gardener, insatiable reader, unapologetic punster, and incurable cat lady. Please do not offer her your strays.
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connect with the author:  website ~ facebook ~ instagram ~ goodreads

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Enter the Giveaway

PICTURE A GARDEN by Linda Hornberg Book Tour Giveaway