Author: Angela Russ-Ayon
Illustrator: José Gascón H.
Fruits & Veggies Row by Row:
Children Explain How Plants Grow in Their Garden
(Multicultural Picture Book)
A group of diverse young children shares their experience growing fruits and vegetables in the garden from seed to sprout to harvest. They clear the land, plant seeds, and tour readers around abundant crops while explaining how different plants grow. This book is filled with teachable moments, simple gardening terminology, and opportunities to mimic and move. It’s a rich STEM experience that introduces children to the beneficial process of working the land and reaping the rewards. A garden is where young children can observe natural changes and use their senses to investigate the world. Readers also enjoy searching for tiny hidden insects.
Teaching children where food comes from effectively gives them control over their diet and promotes healthy eating. Plant something that helps children grow.
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Lyrical rhyming verses and colorful imagery
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Available in English and Spanish
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Foundation/Domain: Life Science
José Gascón H. lives in Toronto, Canada where he has been serving as adjunct faculty for leading institutions like The Art Institute, Kennedy College of Technology, and Max The Mutt College of Animation Art & Design. During his extensive career, he has collaborated on popular television shows and feature films.
Benefits of Gardening:
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Practice mapping, designing, and creating a gardening space.
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Exposure to a variety of fruits and vegetables and their connection to a rainbow of colors.
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A socio-emotional experience, working cooperatively toward a positive outcome.
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Provides a mindful therapeutic, calming effect from outdoor, fresh air activity, disconnected from electronics and the stress of life. (see the Netherlands study)
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A sensorimotor experience: engages all senses.
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Gain an understanding of food sources.
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Encourages the preparation and consumption of fresh produce. Children who grow their own food are more likely to eat fresh fruits and vegetables.
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Motor skills: engages children and adults in moderate exercise and physical activity: bending, twisting, stretching, lifting, pulling, and reaching.
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Learn patience and responsibility, and gain a sense of confidence.
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Experience a scientific process that pays off.
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Develops planning, STEM, and analytical abilities.
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Introduces biology: the study of living things and their vital processes.
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Introduces botany: the study of plants, including their structure, properties, and biochemical processes.
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A chance to study the chemical process of photosynthesis.
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Provides an opportunity to examine and interact with the environment: weather, temperature, insects, animals, soil, plants, etc.
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Promotes an appreciation for nature and empathy for the creatures.
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Explores the limits of natural resources and the importance of using them carefully.
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Conservation: highlights the importance of taking care of the environment (sustainability).
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Sunshine on the skin helps the body make Vitamin D! Vitamin D helps our bodies use calcium, keeps our bones strong, and helps us fight diseases.
Bulk Orders: This title is available in bulk for early childhood and nutrition programs, conferences, non-profit initiatives, licensing, or grants that promote healthy eating, fruits and vegetables, gardening, farm to table, STEM initiatives, and anti-obesity. Contact the publisher (AbridgeClub.com | Russ InVision Co.) directly for quotes, orders, and discounted pricing.
Related terms and phrases: gardens, gardening, planting, gardening in preschool, community garden, farm-to-table, nutrition month, fruits and vegetables, growing healthy foods, growing fruits, growing vegetables, planting fruits, planting vegetables, harvesting a garden, planting healthy food, planting a garden, how to plant a garden, garden fresh food, healthy living, healthy eating.
Child nutrition, CACFP, National CACFP, National CACFP, My Plate, ChooseMyPlate.gov, eating healthy food, tasting new foods, eating fruits and vegetables, preparing foods in different ways, STEM connections, making healthy choices, nutrition month (March), nutritious food, balanced diet, variety of foods, healthy eating, food pyramid, USDA Food and Nutrition Service, Health and Human Services, SNAP-ED Program, nutrition education, nutrition material, Spanish picture books about nutrition, material de educación nutricional en español.
Check out our "good food" songs and musical activities!
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Also available in
Spanish with English translation
ISBN: 978-1958627-06-8
Reader's Favorite Book Review
Fruits and Veggies Row by Row by Angela Russ-Ayon is a story that will motivate children to do gardening, be it summer, fall, winter, or spring. The book shows children how to start their own garden by first getting tools like hoes and spades to plant their garden, row by row, and long and straight side by side. The weeds have to be pulled out first, and once that is done, the holes have to be dug, and then the seeds should be planted. Once these are watered, there is a waiting period when more watering should be done until the stems sprout and start growing. Let us join the children and see what vegetables and fruits they have planted and check out the harvest along with them.
This informative book is useful to encourage children to start gardening and is a good way to introduce them to new vegetables and fruits. Jose Gascon H's illustrations are bright and colorful and will leave readers wanting to eat the fruits and vegetables in the book. The book will also encourage children to get into healthy eating habits by showing them how to grow nutritious food in their gardens. Written in rhyming verses, the book is a delight to children who are shown how to plant veggies and fruits in their garden, but it will also teach them how to use rhyming words. The concept is wonderful, and this is an excellent way to get children outdoors and doing something productive. The Talking Points and Teachable Moments give a lot of tips and techniques and are helpful for young