Gardens are a lot of fun to do with your preschooler. Whether a vegetable garden, a flower garden, or both, gardening takes a lot of work to get a good result. Check out these garden stories from your library and get ideas for your own gardens and see what steps are involved with creating and caring for a garden.
Seven Garden Stories
1. Lola Plants a Garden by Anna McQuinn —
I love the Lola stories! They are perfect for preschoolers because they are not too wordy, super cute stories, and great illustrations. In this Lola book, Lola and her mommy read garden poems, which inspires them to plant their own garden! They go to the store and get everything they need. Lola demonstrates what is involved with planting seeds and helping them grow.
2. Muncha! Muncha! Muncha! by Candace Fleming —
Mr. McGreely has dreamed of planting a vegetable garden. Finally, this is year that he is going to do it. Three little bunnies are excited about the new vegetables he’s growing and they sneak in to eat the yummy food each night. Mr. McGreely builds fences, walls, a moat, and finally a fortress around his vegetable garden to keep the bunnies out. It looks like the bunnies are finally locked out of the garden. Mr. McGreely does a happy dance and carries his basket into the fortress, across the moat and over the wall to pick his vegetables. But who is that hiding in the basket? It’s the bunnies! Muncha, muncha, muncha!
3. Planting a Rainbow by Lois Ehlert —
We love Lois Ehlert’s books! They always have great pictures. In this book and child helps mom plant a flower garden in a rainbow of colors. The book shows a great step-by-step guide to the planting process for children. Once the flowers bloom, each color is highlighted in its own spread and the names of the flowers are given.
4. A Green, Green Garden by Mercer Mayer —
Little Critter learns that gardening is a lot of work! The Critter family demonstrates the steps that go into planting and caring for a vegetable garden. Preschoolers will like this short story that ends with a bunch of colorful vegetables for the family to enjoy! This book presents a nice opportunity to name the vegetables and gets kids excited about growing their own garden.
5. My Garden by Kevin Henkes —
In this fanciful story, a girl helps her mother with a garden, then the girl grows all sorts of interesting things in her imagination. She grows chocolate rabbits, tomatoes as big a beach balls, and jellybeans. And one of the coolest parts is that the flowers change colors just by wishing them to change! A nice look at what is involved with a real garden, as well as enjoyable, imaginary place.
6. There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Frog by Lucille Colandro —
The silly old lady gets spring fever and she begins swallowing all sorts of things, starting with a frog. After swallowing dirt, seeds, rain, sunlight, gloves, and a rake, she burps everything back up and gets a garden! With rhyming text and silly pictures, preschoolers will enjoy this book. A great look at sequencing. Try asking: What did she swallow first? What are the steps to create a garden?
7. The Curious Gardenby Peter Brown —
In an ugly, greenless city, a curious little boy named Liam discovers a few wildflowers trying to grow along the railroad tracks. Liam takes it upon himself to care for the plants and nurture them into a thriving garden. The garden grows restless and begins to expand along the railway. Liam tends to the growing garden throughout the spring and summer. When the snow falls, Liam uses the time to gather supplies to revive his garden in the spring. The curious garden comes back to life in the spring and begins spreading throughout the city. The plants loved all of the old and abandoned places! Soon, other people begin helping tend the garden and the city is transformed into a beautiful place.
Check your library for these and other garden stories. To help cover the costs of this site, I joined Amazon’s Affiliate program. If you buy a book through one of my links, then I get a small percentage of the sale (at no additional cost to you). Thank you for your support! Happy Reading 🙂