Judith HandelsmanCritiques

"Garden From Garbage" is a sort of instructional book on gardening with recyclable materials. I thought I was really going to enjoy this book, since I like gardening, but it was a pretty boring read. Although I enjoyed the emphasis on recycling and how plants help us, most of the book is just instructions on how to plant things. Some of the sections are too wordy or complicated, which I don't think would benefit younger readers. There are many projects that the reader can do at home, which I thought was a nice addition. I did learn a few things from this book- mostly how to plant different seeds- but I don't really think that children would find this book very entertaining or interesting.

This book teaches children how to plant simple things like garlic from taking leftover scraps from the kitchen. It contains illustrations to help along the learning process and is a great how-to book.

This would be a great book to share with a science class. It demonstrates how to begin a garden and what important to have in a garden. It shows the reader that scraps from other foods can help your garden grow. The book also provides different ideas to do in your class.½

This book gives basic instructions on how to plant seeds, then includes specific directions for starting plants from common kitchen scraps such as potatoes, pineapple, squash, tomatoes, avocados, etc. This book gives clear directions and includes how long it might take each item to sprout and grow. I like that it includes what to expect and instructions on how to make the plants grow their best. Short anecdotes from each plant's history are also included. It makes me want to go try it out!