"Watch Me Grow! A Down-to-Earth Look at Growing Food in the City" by Deborah Hodge fills a void in the dearth of available children's literature concerning locally-grown food. A more and more topical subject, Hodge looks to children to help explain the importance of buying food grown in the city in which they live. The book walks readers through pertinent topics such as where can food be grown in a city? What can be grown? How can children assist in gardening and home farming in a fun way that teaches them where the food on their dinner plates comes from? In a world where the miles between soil and kitchen countertop are rising exponentially, "Watch Me Grow!" provides young readers with the basic knowledge to grow their own vegetable gardens and encourages them to do so. Every page picks a specific topics, i.e. community co-ops, urban garden sites, or garden ecosystems and then poses a question ("Do you have a patch of earth or container you can turn into a garden?" or "Is there a community garden in your neighborhood?") that allows children to think about their own surroundings. Awarding-winning photographer Brian Harris provides real-life photos of city kids working in gardens, food co-ops, and buying their food from local farmers’ markets. The book may have benefited by including some step-by-step instructions for certain plants with accompanying photos, but otherwise, it's a welcome addition to a very small but important (and hopefully ever-growing!) subject group. Recommended for children 8 and up. ( )

This book is even better than Deborah Hodge's Up We Grow, which I reviewed last year. In this accessible picture book, she introduces us to gardening in a city, especially for and with children.

First of all, having drooled over Brian Harris' photographs, I now have a not-so-secret longing to relocated to Vancouver. It appears to be the most fun, green city ever!

The book is divided into four sections, Growing, Sharing, Eating, and Caring. The gentle questioning of the text and many photographs show all the overlooked places where gardens can flourish and will inspire readers to find their own corners for growing food (I'm thinking those really sunny windowsills in the library...if I can just keep the kids from knocking over the pots...) Additional suggestions and information on growing food is included in small boxes.

The sharing section talks about the ways people share food - and space. Community gardens, city farmers, urban farmer's markets, and creating gardens that attract wildlife are all included. Eating discusses ways to use the food you've grown in your garden and Caring shows how city gardens can help people and the environment flourish. A brief note about Urban Agriculture explains more of the benefits of city gardening and lists all the beautiful gardens in the photographs.

Verdict: This is a must have for your library. Even if you live in a small town and not a city, like me, there are many people who live in apartments or have small or nonexistent gardens. This is the perfect book for encouraging gardening with children in unique spaces. Pair this with DK's Ready Set Grow for a great combination of gardening ideas and finding spaces for the gorgeous green!
ISBN: 9781554536184; Published February 1, 2011; Review copy provided by publisher through Raab Associates.