The Nitty-Gritty Gardening Book: Fun Projects for All Seasons

Jennifer S. Larson has written many nonfiction books for young readers.

"Cornell offers plenty of compelling reasons to give gardening a try, and she invites readers with all different levels of experience, space, and tools to garden with her throughout the seasons. An introduction hits the basics, such as evaluating your climate zone, available space, and soil. Four chapters, one for each season, include three projects each. Many of the projects require very few special supplies, and some encourage reusing items that may be bound for the trash. Both food and flowers are the fruits of all the projects, including growing your own avocado plant, making a strawberry basket, and forcing daffodil bulbs. Color photographs, worthy of glossy gardening magazines, are shown alongside drawings of each step of the projects, making them easy to follow even for young readers. Back matter includes more gardening websites to explore and links to suppliers of gardening supplies. This book encourages budding horticulturalists with the notion that gardening doesn't have to depend on having access to the perfect climate and location." ―Booklist

"Whether they have a green thumb or not, kids will enjoy learning about mapping sunlight, testing soil pH, and choosing native plants to fill diverse garden spaces. These simple, inexpensive seasonal projects are designed to inspire minds, busy hands, and yield edifying results. Planting in pots or prepping a patch of yard has never been so fun. A cleverly formatted table of contents lists information on colorful mock plant tags, followed by a thought-provoking introduction. Instructions are clear, complete, and simple. Bright photos accompanied by pen-and-ink sketches provide user-friendly visuals. Whether composting, building stick bean poles, or creating a butterfly garden or terrarium, kids will gain a sense of scientific wonder watching their completed activities come to fruition. VERDICT: A solid book for budding ecologists, landscape architects, and horticulturists."―School Library Journal

"Cornell presents gardening basics and a dozen projects, arranged by season. A six-page introduction establishes good reasons for gardening (producing healthy, colorful food and flowers; providing beneficial habitat for birds and insects). Short overviews begin each section, from spring through winter. Some projects, such as growing a plant from an avocado pit, often appear in children's gardening books. Others, like making an under-sink compost bin with red worms, are more novel. Each activity includes a list of supplies to gather or purchase and instructions laid out in steps (these range in number from six to 13). Cornell encourages children without garden spaces to create container gardens, gearing several projects especially to them. While the author writes well and with expertise, some quibbles can be pegged to the cramped 48-page length. The introduction contains a section on soil testing that reduces this complex topic to three short paragraphs. The plant hardiness zone map is so reduced in size that it's undecipherable. The text type's font is small, and some activities contain complicated steps, such as the instructions for double digging a soil plot in the 'Birds and Bees Garden' activity. Many ingredient lists call for '1 bag potting soil' but never stipulate what size to buy. Pleasant photographs by Larson are supplemented with clear diagrams and stock photos. Shortcomings aside, garden projects for preteens are always welcome, and Cornell includes excellent resources for further endeavors." ―Kirkus Reviews