When Mama Grows With Me: A Picturebook Review and Giveaway

 Some of you may remember me reviewing Rebecca Wheeler's first picture book When Daddy Shows Me the Sky. Fast forward two years and the companion book, When Mama Grows With Me, is about to be launched into the world. I'm also proud to announce that Rebecca is my new co-publisher of Talking Story! (Hint: If you don't win her book from this blog, if you are a newsletter subscriber you'll have another chance in our October issue.) 

When Mama Grows With Me is once again illustrated by the lovely Katherine Jordan. Now that I've gotten to know Rebecca better, I understand how this picture book is a beautiful marriage of Rebecca's love for gardening and yoga.

REVIEW

The book begins with a child getting ready to plant a garden with his mother. The theme is introduced in the second paragraph: "Sometimes it's hard to wait, but waiting teaches me to be patient and helps my mind grow. Our plants do so much work before flowers appear. If the plants are patient, I can be too!"

The boy plants the seeds in little pots. He imagines the seeds waking up when he sprinkles them with water. "I pretend to be a seed and stretch my arms like roots in the earth."

After two weeks, sprouts appear. As he waits, the little boy shapes his body into a blossom.

The mother and son do an airplane pose as they pretend to be birds looking for something to eat. He has to wait patiently while the plants grow, so he watches frogs jump out of the water pitcher, and of course, imitates them. 

In late spring the seedlings are finally ready to be transplanted into the garden. He and his mother shape themselves into trees to provide shade in the afternoon for the new plants. 

In the summer, after the flowers blossom, the little boy and his mother wait for the pollinators. "Parents can learn a lot from pollinators," Mama says. "The insects focus on one flower at a time, rather than trying to do lots of things at once."

"I sit in the grass and imagine that my legs are wings. First, I point my knees up to the sky like butterfly wings and then I stretch them open like a sleepy moth."

In the fall, "we hide bulbs in the earth for next spring's flowers..."

"Just because we can't see them, doesn't mean the plants aren't growing on the inside," Mama says. 

"Just like people," I say. "When we wait, we grow on the inside."

"That's right," Mama whispers. "Waiting is growing."

I smile because I know in all seasons, Mama grows with me.

                                                    ****

This child's voice in this informative and lyrical picture book makes it kid-friendly for early elementary students. I picture a classroom of kindergarteners learning about pollination and doing the butterfly pose on the floor of their classroom! In the back of the book, Rebecca's daughter demonstrates the yoga poses.

REMEMBER!

Pre-orders help authors. Rebecca's book debuts on September 19 so if you're interested in this title (think: Christmas is coming soon! Get a copy for your child's teacher or for your yoga instructor!). So go ahead and order it now. She'll appreciate that! 

VIDEO and PODCAST

Did I say that Rebecca loves flowers and yoga? Check out this video on how to save zinnia seeds!

Here's a recent interview that Rebecca did on Thriving Authors Podcast.

GIVEAWAY

To enter the giveaway, please leave a comment (with your email address if you are new to my blog) by September 14. If you prefer, you can email me to enter. U.S. postal addresses only. If you are an educator or librarian, you get two chances--just let me know in the comments.

Congratulations to Georgie Bartlett who won an Ebook of Elanor and the Song of the Bard and to Valinora Troy and Nathan Keys who won Ebook copies of The Conjurer's Curse from last week's blog. 

THE PIE THAT MOLLY GREW: A Picture Book Review and Mini-Author Interview

This must be the season for new picture books because my email box is full of books waiting to be reviewed. I'm happy to share one by author and self-proclaimed backyard explorer, Sue Heavenrich. 

The Pie That Molly Grew  (Sleeping Bear Press: 2023) combines the rhythm of the nursery rhyme, This is the House that Jack Built with the science of growing pumpkins. It ends with a yummy feast and STEM back matter (including directions for scooping out a pumpkin and a pie recipe) that every preK-first grade teacher will love. 

REVIEW

Here is the opening page which reflects the simple beginning of what becomes an enormous plant.

The lyrical book proceeds to show Molly planting the seed and watching it sprout. Next, she plants it in her garden:

         "to grow from the seed that Molly sowed."

(Are you starting to hear the rhythm?)

Next to arrive on the scene are leaves as "big as your head turning sunlight to food wherever they spread."

As Molly tends to her pumpkin plant, the vine grows and grows and begins to produce blossoms.

The author makes sure that her readers understand the important role that bees have in pollination.

Molly proudly displays her pumpkin "big and round" which is "sliced and diced and baked in a pan and left on the table till feasting began."

for the seed and the sprout,

for the vine and the leaves,

for the flowers that nourished the hardworking bees.

And the wonderful pie that Molly made.

Parents, grandparents, and educators-beware! Every child who hears this book will want to: 

a) scoop out a pumpkin and save the seeds

b) make a pie

c) plant pumpkin seeds next spring!

Chamisa Kellog's bright illustrations will grab young readers' attention as they are drawn into The Pie That Molly Grew. 

Mini-Author Interview

Carol: I’m curious about the different types of bees that you have seen pollinating your garden. Can you talk about that a bit?

 

Sue: I love watching the insects that share my garden and listening to their buzzing and humming. I started looking at them more closely when I became one of the community science volunteers at the Great Sunflower Project (https://www.greatsunflower.org), growing flowers for – and counting – the pollinators in my garden. And by “growing flowers” I mean that I allow flowers that some folks call weeds to grow in my garden bed: Queen Anne’s lace, yarrow, dead nettle, mullien, red clover – the bees love clover! I don’t know the names to all the bees that visit, but I’ll see common eastern bumble bees, tricolor bumble bees, yellow bumble bees, carpenter bees (they are the ones with shiny bee butts!), leafcutter bees, metallic green sweat bees, and squash bees. There are also a number of flower-pollinating flies, too.

A bee doing her job in Sue's garden.

Carol: Do you ever save your pumpkin seeds?

 

Sue: I do. Saving the seeds from a pumpkin is pretty easy: cut open the pumpkin (which you have to do whether you’re baking it for pie or making a jack-o-lantern) and scoop out the guts. Then I pull out bunches of seeds and rinse them in a strainer to get the strings off, and let them dry on a wax paper-lined cookie sheet for a few days. Pumpkins are related to other squashes,  cukes, and melons, and sometimes they can be cross-pollinated. So you might get a surprise when you plant your saved seeds – especially if your pumpkins were growing within flight distance of zucchinis. But hey! It’s science. 

                                            *****

To read Sue's answers to some commonly asked questions, check out Chamisa's interview on Sue's blog.

Here are more blogs that are featuring Molly this week and next:

Aug 15 - at Vivian Kirkfield's blog for a Book Birthday & giveaway

 

 Aug. 16 - we'll join the STEAMTeam at Maria Marshall’s blog, The Picture Book Buzz

Aug. 18 - at Carol Baldwin’s blog & a giveaway!

Aug. 23 - with Kathy Halsey on the GROG blog

Aug. 25 - over at Beth Anderson's blog

Aug 28 - with Lauri Fortino at Frog on a Blog

GIVEAWAY

Sleeping Bear Press is providing a giveaway copy. If you are interested in winning this informative and fun book, please leave me a comment by August 21. As usual, if you share this post on social media or are an educator or librarian, you get an extra chance. If you are new to my blog, please leave your email address. U.S. addresses only. If you prefer, email me to enter the giveaway.