Good Books for Good Kids: Wildflowers
They’re a staple of the season around here, but I don’t remember a single wildflower when I was growing up in the land of lawns and pesticide, and the truck that would drive around every few days and gas the neighborhood for mosquitoes (Did that happen in anyone else’s neighborhood, or was it just ours, because that just sounds CRAZY to me now), unless I saw them in ditches or on roadside medians from my backseat window in the car.
And that’s no way to see wildflowers.
My girls and I are very blessed where we live now to have a community that actively grows and encourages wildflowers, and several Backyard Wildlife Habitat homes that demonstrate the beauty of native growth.
I am adamant about the fact, however, that just experiencing a thing is, although critical, not enough. To love wildflowers, we just have to see them, sure. To understand them and be knowledgeable about them and know where they ought to live and how to protect them, we need good books.
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For your own little wildflower lovers, here are some good books about wildflowers to help them know more:
- Miss Lady Bird’s Wildflowers, by Kathi Appelt. Although this is a picture book, it’s definitely too difficult for younger children, but perfect for adding enrichment to the history lesson of a slightly older child, and bringing meaning in their eyes both to the presidency of Lyndon Johnson, but also to the Highway Beautification Act that he passed during his term.
- Counting Wildflowers, by Bruce McMillan. A counting book for very small children, this book is actually a quite refreshing and restful read, as it asks children to count not cartoon illustrations or artificial things, but individual wildflowers, growing in their native environments.
- National Audobon Society First Field Guide: Wildflowers. One of the handiest books to have on a walk, this guide has not just some basic information and answers to questions that children might ask, but large color illustrations to help with identification, and on the same page several photos of other similar species, in case you’re not sure if you’ve got a flower’s identity quite right.
- Wildflower ABC, by Diana Pomeroy. It’s an alphabet book, sure, but the illustrations are surprisingly sophisticated, and since they’re done with potato prints, they offer a segue for an older child into another enriching activity done with natural materials.
- A Child’s Book of Wildflowers, by M.A. Kelly. This is a picture book that serves as an identification guide, but also offers the child a simple activity to do with each flower, such as dying Queen Anne’s Lace by placing the flower’s stems in colored water, or using milkweed as a glue.
The school in our town started leaving patches of tall grass where it doesn´t need to be mowed. I totally forgot how pretty clover looks and how pretty some “weeds” bloom if you actually let them get to that point. I have also noticed a lot more butterflies, bees and lighting bugs around those patches…just wonderful!! I am so happy that people are going back to appreciating what natures gave us!
I agree, connection to nature involves not just appreciation but also a level of understanding gained from observation, from mentors and from books.
I’ll try not to think of that truck going around spraying. Ugh!