Author: Karl Beckstrand

Illustrator: Zanara

Publisher: Premio Publishing & Gozo Books

ASIN : B08JGKSQHX

Grow! How We Get Food from our Garden, by the renowned author Karl Beckstrand, is the third book in his Food Books for Kids series. The full-page colour illustrations of a young child and her grandfather tilling, planting, watering and harvesting produce in their own garden bring this work to life. The enthusiasm that the child has for their shared activity is catchy, so that the four- to seven-year-old children at whom the work is targeted are likely to come to enthuse about the contents of this book just as joyfully as the author seems to have delighted in writing it. Beckstrand, who is a media professor, certainly knows how to make his audience smile.

Not only does Grow! How We Get Food from our Garden teach youngsters how to grow their own little veggie patch, but it also introduces 325 words describing the gardening and farming activity on which the grandchild embarks, with her male carer. Professor Beckstrand uses basic rhyme and alliteration to add tunefulness to his text, giving the reader short and lilting stanzas such as “Till and turn / Hack and hoe / Plow and plant / Mulch and mow.” The innate rhythm of speech is, thus, effectively conveyed with ease and grace.

In addition to the poetry that pervades this work, Beckstrand also includes a snippet of information in prose, written in a lively and informative style that is aimed at encouraging the young child to share in the wonders of surrounding nature: “Did you know that spiders are bees are our friends? Spiders control pests that eat plants. Bees and butterflies pollinate plants so that they make new plants.” The ecological cycle is also explained in simple terms of consumer–provider, with, for instance, goats being shown to be useful for eating weeds.

The bright and clear illustrations are done by Zanara, a well-known freelance artist, designer, illustrator, and animator who has been creating designs, fine art, and illustrations for over two decades. She is clearly highly skilled in intertwining the text with the wording, resulting in a page that is extremely pleasing to the eye. With its ecologically and culturally aware text, and the careful blending of words and art, Grow! How We Get Food from our Garden is a work that every parent should consider acquiring for their young “sprouts