First Peas to the Table

by Susan Grigsby, Nicole Tadgell (Illustrations)

Maya loves contests, so she is excited when her teacher announces they will plant a school garden like Thomas Jefferson's garden at Monticello--and they'll have a "First Peas to the Table" contest, just like Jefferson and his neighbors had each spring. Maya plants her pea seeds with a secret head start--found in Jefferson's Garden Book--and keeps careful notes in her garden journal. But her friend Shakayla has plans of her own for the contest...Susan Grigsby's light-hearted classroom story also presents scientific and historical information. Nicole Tadgell's watercolors add both appeal and botanical accuracy.

Genres: Picture Books, Science, Childrens, Nature, Presidents, History, Gardening

Library Binding

First published March 1, 2012

Reviews

[Peacegal · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a fact--kids who help in growing vegetables are more likely to eat vegetables. This is a wonderful story about a classroom gardening project, and great modeling of a variety of admirable traits from ingenuity to kindness to classmates. While the illustrations were a little dull for me, I still enjoyed this realistic story and hope it will inspire some young gardeners.

[Rose Rosetree · Rating 5 out of 5]

Plant a garden like Thomas Jefferson's?

Hey, I love gardening. Also, I've toured Monticello and it's an astounding place.

Yes to this story!

WHAT A WELCOMING WAY TO LEARN ABOUT THE LIFE CYCLE OF PEAS!

Also, this book includes a sweet subpot about friendship.
Thrown in also is a small helping of "glimpses of the Jefferson eating peas with his neighbors."

Such a delightful book!

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A class holds a contest to see who can be the first one to grow enough peas to fill a bowl. M is currently growing seeds in her class, too, so I think she liked the idea of a big kid growing a garden. She also asked many questions about the storm that came through.

[emyrose8 · Rating 4 out of 5]

This would be a fun project to do at school! Unfortunately, with Minnesota weather I doubt we’d ever have warm weather soon enough to have peas ready by the end of the year.

[Teri · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful and inspiring!

[Nichole · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute book about an elementary class that has a gardening experiment/ competition. It also teaches you about Thomas Jefferson, pea growth, gardening, and how to be a good sport.

[Y.Poston]

cute way to to incorporate history into spring and gardening

[Kim Patton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good science and historical tie ins to this book about a class growing peas and keeping journals about their progress. Relates back to the way Thomas Jefferson grew his garden, which inspires the kids.

[Karen Arendt · Rating 4 out of 5]

great story about gardening, planting seeds, and even charting growth of plant (which could be applied to any scientific method for younger students). The information about Jefferson's gardens is an added historical bonus!

[Sheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

A sweet picture book, with tidbits about Thomas Jefferson's gardening skill.

[Shelli · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great story of friendship, a former president, and farming. Very informative and entertaining read. A bit long for a library read aloud, but good for a classroom or at home.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

http://librarianosnark.blogspot.com/2...

[CFAITC]

A story about how Maya and her classmates have a contest involving growing peas in the school garden, modeled after the contest Thomas Jefferson had each spring with his neighbors.

[Palmer]

Straight forward narrative of planting a class garden and growing peas.

[Kaitlin Heaton]

picture book

Got this book in practicum. Interesting historical book.