Seedfolks
by Paul Fleischman
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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 512)
Read in May, 2008
recommended to Ashley by:
class list
The story is bad enough without being read like it was. The tracks were often edited to speed up the speaking, cutting pauses between words, making some of the readers sound like the computerized voices on my Mac.
I liked how the story was revealed. The book is about a dumping ground that becomes a community garden, and each chapter is told by different people about different events surrounding the evolution of the garden. A character narrating one chapter may appear in someone else's chapter...more
I liked how the story was revealed. The book is about a dumping ground that becomes a community garden, and each chapter is told by different people about different events surrounding the evolution of the garden. A character narrating one chapter may appear in someone else's chapter...more
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Read in June, 2007
recommends it for:
EVERYONE!
This book is such a great read and promotes happiness everywhere! :)
I just re-read this after having read it in college, summer 2003. I was taking a class called (GET READY): Education Theory and Policy, Introduction to Philosophy of Education, taught by Madhu Prakash, this amazingly beautiful Indian woman who always glowed and no one really knew how old she was though she looked so young...she always drank this mysterious beverage which she made from all organic products including wheat berry...more
I just re-read this after having read it in college, summer 2003. I was taking a class called (GET READY): Education Theory and Policy, Introduction to Philosophy of Education, taught by Madhu Prakash, this amazingly beautiful Indian woman who always glowed and no one really knew how old she was though she looked so young...she always drank this mysterious beverage which she made from all organic products including wheat berry...more
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recommended to Stephanie by:
Janet Kaufman (college professor)
recommends it for: Everyone
recommends it for: Everyone
This book is fantastic! Told from the viewpoint of several different community members from various backgrounds, it is the story of a community pulling together to overcome racism, stereotypes, and social injustice. It all begins with a Vietnamese girl who goes to the abandoned lot to plant a bean seed and an elderly white woman who thinks she's hiding drugs and goes down to investigate. When she discovers that the girl was actually planting seeds, she feels so horrible that she starts helpin...more
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Read in June, 2003
This is the latest read-aloud in my room. In choosing it I knew I would have to edit some material as I read. The characters speak honestly about drugs and pregnancy, which is great, but not altogether appropriate for ten year olds. The story is about the creation of a community garden in Cleveland. Each chapter is told by a different character who has been (or is in the process of being)changed by the garden. The story is told simply and without preaching its message. By caring for living thing...more
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Read in April, 2008
recommends it for:
everyone
This little volume packs a big punch. Because it's such a quick read, anyone and everyone ought to pick it up. The thirteen short chapters are each narrated by a different inner-city dweller, many of them immigrants, most of them trying a eke out a meager, and meaningful, existence. What brings such an unlikely cast of characters together is a community garden in a vacant lot. Digging in the dirt is good for the soul, and it leads to connections that wouldn't be forged otherwise. I love how...more
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Read in October, 2007
this book is about of group of people who have never met each other before and they all live in the same neighborhood where there is a littered garden. the garden is filled with trash and old plants. and each person in every chapter add something to it to make it look good. but there are other stories around this book in every chapter there is a different story about different people but at the end of each chapter it all goes back to that garden. the things I learned in this book is that people ...more
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Read in January, 2008
This book Seedfolks took place on a bleak Cleveland neighborhood that filled with garbage. Even though, people lived in the same neighborhood, but they did not actually talked to each other. Until one day, a young girl cleaned a small space and dug into the hard-packed soil to plant her bean seeds. Then, people slowly recognized this news and also decided to grow vegetables, fruits or flowers. One by one, a number of people of varying ages and backgrounds transform a trash-filled inner-city ...more
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Read in September, 2007
recommends it for:
people who love gardens
I think this is officially adolescent lit (the book jacket said "ages 10 and up"), but I think it has a wider appeal and message. It's very short--only 65 pages, I think--and it tells the stories of different people in a run-down urban neighborhood who gradually turn a vacant lot into a community garden. Each person has different reasons for planting there, and it affects each of them differently. But in the end, it turns this diverse group of individuals into a community.
It's a li...more
It's a li...more
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Read in October, 2007
In ths book,Seedfolk its about an allay in the city of Cleveland, Ohio that has an apartment building infront of it and the people of the apartment are trying to help get the trash and garbage out of it. The people want to build a garden there in memories of there loved ones. Like one Leona's grandmother, she always love to drink goldenrod tea when she was sick. She would never go to the docter, because she thought that drinking the tea would heal her.
The author wrote this book to tell the r...more
The author wrote this book to tell the r...more
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Read in October, 2007
recommends it for:
4-6 graders
I really like how Fleischman creates such diverse voices for this dismal Cleveland neighborhood. Not until recently moving to an urban area did I realize what an impact community gardens can have on the physical appearance of an area. But I think what the author also relates in Seedfolks is how the garden really brings people together for a common good who otherwise might not associate. Even though I do not garden in our local community garden, when visiting it, I still appreciate the beauty ...more
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This would be a GREAT read aloud for anyone who wants to interest students in a school garden or a group of people in a community garden. It is short and comprised of different narratives of characters who are all very different, and with different stories, but come together through one garden.
This would be a great step-off to also introduce personal narrative in connection with science or gardening, and students could create their own narrative with the final project being a book/collection ...more
This would be a great step-off to also introduce personal narrative in connection with science or gardening, and students could create their own narrative with the final project being a book/collection ...more
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Read in July, 2008
I was all set to give this book 4 stars instead of 5; then I read the author's note in the back of the book and I added the last star on. Maybe it is the PAWLP Fellow in me, but I really enjoyed reading about how Fleischman came up with the idea for the book, all the bits of inspiration around him. I especially appreciated the role of his writer's notebook.
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Read in December, 2007
I can't think of anything I didn't like about this story. It was short - every short chapter was one person's point of view - typically a little background, then it fit them into the story of a garden in the city. I loved the imagery, I loved the lessons that each character learned about life as they helped things (or watched things) grow. I loved how the community changed as neighbors got to know one another. A hopeful, peaceful, fantastic book.
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Read in July, 2007
I had to read the book because my co-teacher and I taugth the book to our 9th grade Language Arts class. The book went so fast and truly taught me about the vingette. (Did I spell that rights?) Which was the point of teacing the book to the class. Each vignette is from a different person in the same neighborhood and speaks to their experience with a community garden. It was fun to hear my students share out about their favorite characters.
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Just picked this up in the wonderful children's bookstore in Ashland, Oregon, and since I'm a gardener and advocate of community gardens, I thought I would probably like it. And I did. Too short for me though! (But then, probably just right for its chosen audience.) Liked all of the voices. Wish I could hear more from many of them.
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Read in January, 2005
I read this to see if I wanted to teach it with my students. It is a very fast read for adults. I believe it is only about 80 pages long and I read it in one sitting easily. The story is told from multiple perspectives. Overall, this would be a great choice for teaching about point of view or about multiculturalism. It is good for younger readers or lower level readers, but also is a nice "break" book for older students.
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Read in February, 2008
Young adult book: Interesting book of seperate vignettes of each character who had some relationship to the city garden. We read this as one of our school-wide reads that related to tolerance. It was a great book for discussion & thinking of other people's point of views. It does lack a traditional plot & no real "main" characters - but that wasn't the point of the book. I enjoyed it & recommend it.
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Read in January, 2007
If you ever want a good, short dose of goodness in literature form, pick this book up. I highly recommend it. Jenn read it to her seventh graders, so it is written on their level, but I found the story compelling, moral, and fun all at the same time. You have to admire Fleischman's ability to tell each character's story within the larger story of the garden. I think that it's a great piece of prose.
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Read in January, 1999
recommends it for:
everyone
Having had the pleasure of adapting this and directing it for a radio play, I am in love with it. A great performance piece. A great book about community. One of my favorite authors. AND, a short book that packs a punch, making it a great choice for teens who choose their reading by page length alone.
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recommends it for:
anybody that can read
One of those kids books that adults would love too. Very cute story about urban redevelopment written in character profiles that flow from one to another. Even though it's based in Cleveland (ew), it touches on a common American urban issue of uniting a community divided by races and ages and cultures. Also, I finished it in 45 minutes, so it's light enough to enjoy when your brain needs a break.
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