Secret Gardeners

Growing a Community and Healing the Earth

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Pub Date May 28 2024 | Archive Date May 02 2024

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Description

When three children stumble into an overgrown city yard, they end up elbows-deep in an urban gardening project that replenishes the earth and unites a community.

With the mentorship of Amy, a neighbor who is well-versed in no-dig gardening, Luna, Bianca, and Billy set to work mixing manure, spreading mulch, and sowing seeds. After a few weeks of hard work, the yard is transformed into a sustainable community garden, and more and more people are showing up to grow herbs, mushrooms, vegetables, and fruit. Just when everyone is beginning to harvest their hard-earned local food, they learn that the property is going to be cleared for a parking lot. Will this be the end of their secret garden? Or can the children rally their community to save the day?

In Secret Gardeners, journalist and beekeeper Lina Laurent collaborates with author and illustrator Maija Hurme to tell a story of community solidarity and ecological stewardship. Woven among the dreamlike illustrations are informative notes about soil life, composting, seed starting, beekeeping, wild pollinators, and more. An exquisite blend of fiction and nonfiction that will equip readers with all the information and inspiration they need to begin their own no-dig garden…and maybe even their own community project.

When three children stumble into an overgrown city yard, they end up elbows-deep in an urban gardening project that replenishes the earth and unites a community.

With the mentorship of Amy, a neighbor...


Available Editions

EDITION Other Format
ISBN 9781772782479
PRICE $19.95 (USD)
PAGES 56

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Average rating from 7 members


Featured Reviews

I really liked this one and the look into creating a community garden.
I liked that we got information throughout about planting and gardening.
I liked the illustrations too and the curiosity of the children.
I liked also how they wanted to care for the Earth and being something together for their community.

Thanks NetGalley for this ARC!

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Cute book and very informational about gardening!
My 5 year old daughter loved it and its the perfect book for spring! It gave her a better understanding of the yard work we have been doing and why.
Her favorite page was the “Sowing the seed” one, and she can't wait to try it herself! Has enough story that it holds her attention while also throwing in a lot of information.
Cute book for and little gardener!

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Secret Gardeners is a cute story jam-packed with helpful information about gardening in a way that is healthy for the earth. The story follows friends who start helping a neighbor garden in an abandoned lot. They learn about no-dig gardening, planting seeds and helping them grow, how bees pollinate gardens, and how to bring a community together. The language in the book is friendly and accessible, and it will inspire the curious child.

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Absolutely LOVE this book! It's a fictional story with a beautiful plot & characters AND it's a nonfiction read discussing no-dig gardens, the ground's network underneath the surface, sowing a seed, & the importance of bees. Follow three friends as they stumble across an abandoned lot & work with their neighbors to create a community space. Along the way, a sad old man helps to fix a well & then spends his days in his apartment staring longingly at the empty lot. Plants previously planted by the last gardener appear & the kids find out that the abandoned lot used to be a beautiful garden. Sadly, the mysterious owner of the lot had plans to sell it to be demolished to become a parking garage. The kids & the community come together one last time to save the lot. A story sprinkled with grief, loss, & ultimately, hope. A must-read for homeschools, nature programs, families who are interested in gardening, classroom science units, & so much more. We cannot wait to bring this beautiful story to our own local community garden for a story-time!

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This was a very informative and well-thought out book about nature and gardening. The illustrations were super cute.

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The possibilities are endless when 3 children find an abandoned garden. No one expects a garden hidden in the city and what develops from this children's story is a tale of rejuvenation; both for the people surrounding the green space and for the garden itself. The story builds around sustainable garden techniques taught by a friendly neighbor and in any good story the residents around the whole block get in on the action and enjoy the fruits of their labor. Illustrations are whimsical with factual information presented between the pictures. Children will enjoy the story and hopefully grow into the greater ecological ideas that are shared.

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Wow - I love this book so much! This is a five-star children's book in my opinion. As a retired preschool/kindergarten teacher and homeschool mom, I have read many children's books. There are many great non-fiction science books for elementary aged children and also stories about scientific things, but this book is 100 percent both. it is a great story that could be read on its own, without the science, but even better, it teaches the science of the earth in such an engaging way. The illustrations are pencil drawings and watercolor and are beautiful! I love everything about this book!

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