Zinnia's Flower Garden

by Monica Wellington

Zinnia grows many kinds of flowers in her garden. Sunflowers, sweet peas, and (of course) zinnias bloom in the sunshine. Customers come to pick their own bunches of flowers. Bouquet-bright artwork shows all Zinnia's tasks, from planting the seeds to cutting the beautiful blooms.

The perfect tie-in to elementary biology units about plant growth-and school gardens-this book will be especially welcomed by teachers. It is a splendid addition to Monica Wellington's nonfiction for the very young and a true spring delight that's good in any season.

Genres: Picture Books, Gardening, Childrens, Nature, Fiction, Juvenile, Storytime

32 pages, Hardcover

First published February 3, 2005

About the author

Monica Wellington was born in London and lived in Europe until she moved to the United States at age seven. As a child she always loved to draw and paint, but it wasn't until she went to college that she realized she wanted to be an artist for her profession. She went to the University of Michigan's School of Art to earn her BFA and studied pottery, painting and printmaking. After art school, while traveling and living in a number of different countries, she had various art related jobs, which were all good background and preparation for doing children's books. She has both written and illustrated the majority of her books. She says, "I usually start a book visually, with an idea of what I want to paint pictures about. The pictures may come first before the words for me. Both the pictures and words go through many revisions, and I am often still working on the final words after I finish the pictures." She says that doing children's books is great. "I get to have a job where I spend my days doing totally what I love to do. And it is very gratifying that my work goes out into the world and is shared with other people. I feel incredibly lucky for all this!"

Since 1994 she has taught illustration at the School of Visual Arts. She lives in New York City with her daughter Lydia.

Reviews

[LaDonna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Monica Wellington definitely knows how to get her audience's attention. What a great book about gardening and the seasons!! I give kudos to any author who can write a book for younger readers, keep their interests, and educate them, all at the same time. Zinna's Flower Garden achieves this trifecta for the younger reader! Both the language and illustrations make the story of Zinna and her garden extremely easy to follow. By the time you get to the end of the book, I guarantee you will have a youngster who wants to plant a garden.

[Lisa Vegan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wow! These pictures are bold and colorful with a capital B and C. I wasn’t wild about them, though as the book progressed and (photos of) flowers appeared, I started to warm up to them. Combining art forms was done creatively here. I do think many young kids will like all the pictures though. And I did like Zinnia (her name is great!) and her dog and cat waiting for those first sprouts. Their expectant expressions are so cute. All kids will be able to identify with the patience required (for something they’ve experienced in their lives) as shown in the picture and told in the story.

This is an excellent book for kids interested in gardening, particularly those wanting to grow flowers (I’ve always been partial to vegetables and herbs and always wanted to grow them, and maybe fruit trees too, when I was younger, and now. What can I say?! I love food more than flowers.) There are actual gardening instructions within this fictional story. I appreciate how the delayed gratification aspect of gardening is shown, and the story is a great forum for explaining the seasonal cycle of life for gardens. I enjoyed all the little asides of further information. The last page of the book is non-fiction, and contains a set of instructions for growing your own flowers.

[Jo ☾ · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's spring and Zinnia is planting her garden. The story follows Zinnia as she plants flowers in her garden and once everything is in bloom she sets up a lemonade stand with a "Pick Your Own Flowers" sign and neighbours come to gather flowers. I think my favourite thing about this book are the illustrations. The artwork was made from colour copies and photos which were taken by the author herself as she grew the flowers so they're not cartoony flowers but actual pictures of real flowers alongside the other illustrations. It creates a really neat effect.

A great book for showing children the growing process from seed to flower as it shows the stages of germination and then from flower to seed when it gets colder and ripe seeds have formed for next year. Also included is the life cycle of a butterfly. The parts of a flower are labeled too and many real photos of flowers are shown such as marigolds, sunflowers, snapdragons, and zinnias of course. :)

The last page has steps for growing your own flowers, either outside or indoors in containers.

Loved the artwork enough to check out more by this author!

[Juli19 · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story is about a girl named Zinnia who is getting ready to plant her flowers. The author explains step by step the process of growing flowers. First, digging up the soil and putting the seeds in. Then, spraying water and wait for the sun and rain to help her seeds sprout. As time goes by Zinnia checks how her flowers are growing. Months go by and at the end of July Zinnia's flowers are bloomed. I like the book, it is very informative and it has many vocabulary words that kindergartners will easily grasp. I think children will like reading the book and they will learn about the gardening process.

[Alicia Evans · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this in preparation for my gardening storytime. Zinnia takes great care of her garden throughout the year and this book gives extra tidbits/facts in the margins of each page. This will keep older readers entertained but could be too much for readers wanting a straightforward narrative. I liked the addition of photographs with the illustrations though.

For: fans of gardens; readers looking for a book that goes through the planting cycles throughout the year.

Possible red flags: some readers may find the text to be too convoluted.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mom loved this book! Great way to learn about gardens and parts of the flower. Pre-read for CC1. Kids rated 3 stars.

[susan nolan · Rating 3 out of 5]

for Toddler and Preschool skip pages

[Aneesa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I planted my zinnias today. We'll see...

[Kerri Harshaw · Rating 4 out of 5]

A young girl, Zinnia, works very hard throughout the year to grow her very own beautiful flower garden. This realistic, fiction text provides a step by step storyline for the process of gardening throughout the year. Factual information about the environment, bugs, seeds, and much more are provided in the margins throughout the book (i.e. The page talking about the weather provides four types of clouds seen in the sky and names them – stratus cloud/ cumulus cloud/ cirrus cloud/ nimbus cloud). Students are able to learn a variety of information about flowers (different types/ different parts of) from this book. Zinnia’s Flower Garden, takes an effective approach on the mixing of fiction and non-fiction into one book for students to understand.

[Thomasin Propson · Rating 4 out of 5]

We loved the bright colors of this book! To accompany the illustrations is Zinnia's planting of her garden, which she then tracks through the spring, summer, and fall with notes in a journal (my oldest was especially interested in these journal entries - wouldn't let us turn a page without reading every bit). Good seasonal overview for those in zones that experience snowy winters, too. Recommended for discussion re: seasons and gardening (and journaling!).

[Maritza Mejia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Zinnia's Flower Garden is not only a story, but also a good science informational book for elementary school. The art work was made from color copies cut and pasted onto paper painted with gouache or fabric. The last pages contain a Sunflower Gardening project with step by step instructions and picture of the progress with the growing Sunflowers. This book is a great introduction to gardening for all ages.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one reads almost like a nonfiction book, essentially just going through the steps Zinnia takes to plant, tend, and harvest her garden. Lots of sidebars with more good info, but not a particularly good read aloud for young kids. There's too much text and the pages are too busy for a group to adequately appreciate the illustrations. However, this would be a great one-on-one read for kids interested in gardening and flowers.

[Beverly · Rating 5 out of 5]

The illustrations make interesting use of collage. Also my daughter now knows the names of 8 or so different flowers and the scientific names of clouds so she really learned the content. Plus it cycles through an entire year in the garden and not just the summer like most books. Really very useful book that can grow with the child. (2 years old at the time of first reading.)

[Angela · Rating 5 out of 5]

My kids loved the story and bright pictures. Especially my daughter, who is very into art. The combination of using real fabrics and pictures with drawings spurred her imagination for her own art work. I loved the step by step of growing a garden, it takes time and effort. All the little extra info in the margins was well presented too. A new favorite for us.

[Sarah M. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is perfect for a unit on plants. The student describes how a young girl takes care of her graden. When teachers have their students plant a seed for a science unit, this would be a great introduction.

[Janet · Rating 1 out of 5]

Too many concepts going on in these illustrations that the text doesn't address. Lots of diagrams of things found in a garden--the life cycle of a butterfly, the parts of a flower, but there is no correlation with the text. And the illustration of the girl is not pleasing.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very informative book. It takes you through the process of growing flowers in a garden. On the edges of the page it has information about different topics pertaining to the information on that page. So over all very informative!

[Mike Spinak · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved Zinna's Flower Garden, and so did the kids. The story is so fun, the book is so informative, and the illustrations are so lovely. This was a favorite for the wee ones in my life, and I always enjoyed re-reading it to them.

[Miss Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Zinnie takes the reader through all the stages of planting a flower, watching it grow, selling it and then saving the seeds for next season. I wished it had a little less text but the text is clear and understandable. Definitely for an older crowd because of length.

[Cara Byrne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Purchased for my daughter Zinnia, this picture book is a nice addition to her library, not only because the main character shares her name, but also because it's a nice introduction to the process of growing flowers from seed.

[Talea · Rating 5 out of 5]

We read this book a few times each year as it's a favorite with my younger children. They love to see how the flowers grow and how Zinnia takes such good care of them. This book has also encouraged my kids to garden in the past, and wanting to pick it back up.

[Sandy · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little girl named Zinnia grows a flower garden and teaches kids about the process of gardening. We were introducing the concept of gardens and found this book on an online list. It is informative and served the purpose but isn't one I'll return to again and again.

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun, colorful, and entertaining. The story helps children connect the steps that it takes to grow plants in a garden.

[Miriam Glover- Leffler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book to learn about gardens and parts of a plant.

[Katie Green · Rating 4 out of 5]

This would be a good book to use when discussing plants in science.

[Library Lady Terri · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like the added piece of the Garden Journal. For a young school age audience they would undertand the passage of time.

[Crystal Mason · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an informative and fun book that incorporates science. Children will learn about different flowers, how to grow flowers, different seasons and the effects on plant growth, how to profit from growing flowers, etc. I highly recommend this educational book.

[Jolynne Dougherty · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this one years ago and revisited this spring. Wonderful for STEM programming. Zinnia keeps a journal of her garden, chronicling her observations. Lots of pictures and vocabulary and talks about the water cycle and how plants grow.

[Emma · Rating 3 out of 5]

Josie x 2

[kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well done, cute