My Busy Green Garden

by Terry Pierce, Terry Pierce

CCBC Choice Book 2018 : The Annual Best of the Year List of the Cooperative Children's Book Center
This is my busy green garden.

There’s a surprise
In clever disguise,
That hangs in my busy green garden.

This is a ladybug dawdling so,
Near the surprise, in clever disguise,
That hangs in my busy green garden.

This is a honeybee buzzing below
The red spotted ladybug dawdling so,
Near the surprise, in clever disguise,
That hangs in my busy green garden. So begins this lyrical tribute to the bugs, bees, and birds that make the garden such a busy place. With each turned page, more visitors appear, and all the while the “surprise”―a chrysalis―changes unnoticed until, on the last page, a butterfly emerges and flies away across the garden’s well-tended borders. Back-of-book notes about the natural histories of the garden’s denizens complete this lovely and lively portrait of backyard nature, which is also a gentle meditation on the rewards of paying attention. A chipmunk hides on every page to divert and engage young readers. Fountas & Pinnell Level O Color throughout

Genres: Picture Books, Animals, Storytime, Nature, Childrens, Gardening, Kids

36 pages, Hardcover

Published January 31, 2017

About the author

TERRY PIERCE is the author of over twenty-seven children's books, including Hello, Meadow!, Eat Up, Bear!, Love Can Come in Many Ways, Soccer Time!, Mother Earth's Lullaby, Mama Loves You So, My Busy Green Garden, Blackberry Banquet, and Tae Kwon Do! (Random House Step-Into-Reading, Bank Street College Best Children's Books 2007).

A former Montessori teacher, she now writes full-time and teaches online children's writing courses through the UCLA Extension Writers' Program.

Reviews

[Angela · Rating 4 out of 5]

I opened this book, and right away I almost gasped out loud at the illustrations! They're beautiful - almost photorealistic and lush with color and detail. This is a book meant to be lingered over. The longer you stare at each page, the more hidden details you notice. I actually would not use this book in storytime for that reason. I think the best way to enjoy it is to be able to get up close and personal, which just isn't possible with a large storytime group.

The narration in this book is in the form of a cumulative poem, with each line adding a new garden creature. There's some really great vocabulary words included as well ("dawdling," "writhes," etc.). They're a little bit of a mouthful to read out loud, but they paint a great visual picture and may spark some good discussion with young readers. The "Your Busy Green Garden" section in the back presents interesting facts about the creatures we encounter in the story. I learned some new stuff too!

I doubt I'm going to use this one at storytime, but I might put it on display in case any parents want to check it out afterwards. This would be an awesome book for parents and kids to read together one-on-one.

[Lynn Davidson · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this beautifully illustrated book is the story of a very busy garden. Each page reveals another creature that lives in the garden, and the reader, looking carefully, can find some hidden.There is one creature hidden very well that is revealed at the end of this cumulative rhyming story.

[Suzanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

A cumulative tale and a science lesson (cleverly camouflaged) come together with detailed illustrations to show the variety of life in a flower garden. Readers are told there is "a surprise in clever disguise" hanging in the garden. That clue will prompt a search through the scene on the page to locate the surprise. Other residents of the garden are introduced; ladybug, honeybee, hummingbird, inchworm, mantis, dragonfly, ants, grasshopper, and chickadee each appear and engage in their usual behavior. At last, the surprise unwraps itself to reveal... ah, that would be telling!

I will say that other creatures such as beetles, snails, and a chipmunk also move about the garden and many beautiful plants and flowers are shown. For a read-aloud in a one-on-one situation there could be plenty of time spent poring over all the tiny details worked into each spread. The back matter has a closeup of each of the characters in this tale and a description of their habits. Fittingly, the largest of these entries is saved for the "surprise." Whether you are looking for a gift for a budding young naturalist, adding to a classroom unit on gardens, or even looking for a mentor text to use in a lesson on compound words or verbs, this is a choice that will satisfy all those needs.

[Penny Klostermann · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was lucky enough to read this book in advance. It is delightful in every way. Kids will love looking for the surprise. And once they see it at the end of the book, they will want to reread and explore each spread. That's what I did!
Truly...don't miss this one!

[Mama Bibliosoph · Rating 4 out of 5]

Both of my kids script to some degree, have powerful memories, and are soothed by repetition, rhyme, and a steady beat. So it's no shock to me that the cumulative story (sometimes called a chain story) is one of the most successful narrative formats for them and for many kids with autism. We love "The Twelve Days of Christmas" song, There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly, and Green Eggs and Ham. My Busy Green Garden is the latest instant classic in this popular genre.

The chain begins with "There's a surprise / in clever disguise / that hangs in my busy green garden." The surprise, when you look closely, is a chrysalis, which of course bursts open in the final stanza, ending the book with a butterfly's flight. As the book progresses, additional insects and birds are added to the chained verse, all interacting with each other.

My son Harry sits with this book patiently for up to 30 minutes, reading it over and over again, busily searching for each named animal in each spread. He visually stims (visual hyposensitivity), so I love that this book gives him a sensory opportunity to appropriately scan and move his eyes around with the page against his nose. But for a kid like my son Luke, who is hypersensitive to visual noise, the book is painfully off-putting. The illustrations are very busy with color, shading, and extraneous (non-named) animals. The perspective also keeps changing to center the newly named animal in each new stanza, and the animals are moving in-scene (as animals do), so it's frustrating to keep track of where everything is if you are averse to visual chaos.

Harry loves animals and bugs in particular, and he is really into animal lifecycles. My Busy Green Garden is a hands-down new favorite that hew requests almost daily. Really think about your child sensory issues and interests with this one; your mileage will definitely vary!

****
I review books for children from the perspective of a parent of kids with autism. The review above is from a longer blog post about the best new books of 2017: http://www.lineupthebooks.com/summer-...

[Jane · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is My Busy Green Garden is a beautiful celebration of nature that uses a gentle, cumulative rhyming text and lush illustrations to bring a vibrant garden to life. Each page introduces new characters commonly found in North American gardens – a ladybug, a honeybee, a hummingbird and more, including a very special surprise guest on the final page.

The text is soothing and rhythmic, and would make for a lovely read-aloud, though it does get quite long towards the end! The repetition of lines works works well as a tool for supporting vocabulary development and literacy building.

The artwork is stunning, and there are plenty of colourful details on each spread for young readers to examine and explore.

There’s a great gentleness to This is My Busy Green Garden that’s immensely appealing. While I love zany picture books with madcap humour, and I’ll always be drawn to stories with cheeky meta elements, there’s something very refreshing about a picture book that doesn’t rely on gimmicks, and which simply uses gentle poetry and beautiful artwork to tell its story.

I also appreciated the end material, which provides additional information on all of the critters introduced in the text.

My Busy Green Garden is a lovely picture book that would make for a perfect spring or summer read, especially when followed by a visit to a local garden!

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have enjoyed using this book with multiple groups this spring! There is a lot to love:
a) The chipmunk appears in every spread.
b) The book is cumulative. However, because that is too many words for my youngest patrons, I just read the first line on every page.
c) I say the color and the creature on each page that we are looking for.
d) We talk about what the "surprise" will become at the end of the book.
e) There are four green creatures: hummingbird, inchworm, praying mantis and grasshopper.
f) for the inchworm I make a sound that replicates it moving along slowly
g) for the ants we sing a verse of "the ants go marching"
h) We talk about perspective on the final page. Up until that point we have had a close perspective but on the last page we are seeing what the scene is like from far away and above: the viewpoint of the surprise yellow butterfly!

[Dianne Butts · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a fun book. Teaches about nature, especially at the back. I learned a few things I did not know.

The rhyming text is fun, adding lines as it goes through the book. But the illustrations are gorgeous! Bright and colorful, both life-like and not at the same time.

This is a fun book. I now realize I've read another book from this author, Blackberry Banquet. I'll have to check out what else she has written as I'm sure I'd enjoy them, too.

(If you're wondering why I'm reading so many children's picture books, it's call "research" for an aspiring picture book writer.)

[The Library Lady · Rating 4 out of 5]

You could put this easily into the non-fiction section, with its beautifully detailed wildlife illustrations, and interesting facts in the back, but the "House That Jack Built" style text makes it more of a picture book. I wouldn't read this to a group, the text is too long, and there are too many wonderful details to look at and talk about with a child in your lap. Don't waste this on a "toddler," this is really for older preschoolers and early elementary kids to pore over and enjoy.

[Vicki · Rating 5 out of 5]

The most amazing illustrations are in this book! Flowers, green leaves and bugs abound in this book about a garden. This book is almost a suspense book, as listeners/readers are wondering about the "surprise in a clever disguise".

This is most likely a non-fiction book, it has a glossary at the end offering most information about all of the creatures found in this book.

[Tiny Paper Forest · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a great garden book for toddlers and young children. The illustrations are lovely with lots of detail that make rereading it a delight. The repetition of the creatures can be challenging to get through with a very young toddler but probably will be more fun with an older toddler or younger child. If you were doing a garden theme on your bookshelf this is a great one to add.

[Mariah Everett · Rating 5 out of 5]

This beautifully illustrated picture book is a repetitive, layered poem centered around "the surprise" in the cocoon in the "busy green garden". We notice lots of different insects, a hummingbird and chickadee. At the end of the book we finally see the butterfly. The back of the book contains more information on the creatures introduced in the poem.

[Viviane Elbee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written in a similar style to the house that jack built, this book introduces readers to a variety of insects and birds that could be found in a home garden - from an insect in a "clever disguise" to ladybugs, honeybees, ants, hummingbirds, preying mantises, dragonflies etc.

[Ed · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yet another beautifully illustrated book that I disliked because of the writing. The illustrations get a 5 star rating, the words barely rate a 3.

[Amanda Geske · Rating 4 out of 5]

“it wriggles and writhes, then stretches and flies...away from my busy green garden!”

[Sue Mosher · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a gorgeous picture book, but the repetitive rhyme isn't my thing. I'm sure young children would love it and start saying it along with the reader.

[Srinivas Nittala · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like the book because it had poetry and it was secretly fun to read.

[Andrea Brooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

The house that Jack built format in the garden. Great view of the garden's inhabitants.

[Joanna · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book! Clever buildup a la “house that jack built” with lilting rhyming couplets that shift as the story builds. Absolutely gorgeous.

[Robyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved the illustrations!

[Susan Eubank · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good illustrations and cumulative rhyming story introduces the animals in a garden ecosystem. Lots to look at and think about. Good for a botanic garden library.

[Launna · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the colorful illustrations and the rhyming is fun. It reminds me of “I Know An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Fly.”

[Pug · Rating 4 out of 5]

Super cute! A day in the life of some critters in a garden. And it is busy. :)
Pretty little illustrations to accompany fun alliteration.

[Penguin · Rating 3 out of 5]

B U G S

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh the wonders of outside!

[Ali · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fun book. I like the metamorphosis within.

[Rebecca Gomez · Rating 5 out of 5]

A delightful, enchanting book. The illustrations are colorful and richly detailed. Perfect book for spring!

[Debbi Florence · Rating 5 out of 5]

With lush gorgeous illustrations, this cumulative tale follows creatures inhabiting a busy green garden. The story opens with a promise to the reader that there is a surprise hiding in the garden. We start with a ladybug and one by one traverse the garden until the delightful surprise at the end. This story and accompanying illustrations with enchant the reader, young and older.

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gardens are lovely oases of greenery, but they are also very busy spots. Featuring lovely illustration that are filled with greens and provide close-up views of the garden and its inhabitant, the book follows various animals as they move through the garden. Since the text starts with a busy garden and its "surprise / in clever disguise" (unpaged), savvy readers will realize that green object will be important later. As readers are guided through the garden in a cumulative tale fashion with lines being repeated verbatim or changed slightly, they will realize just how busy and crowded this garden is and how the various flora and fauna rely on one another. Having a ringside seat as a butterfly emerges and flies through the garden makes this book useful in exploring the life cycle of the butterfly in an elementary science classroom, and the back matter describing the denizens of the garden adds to what readers know about each of these species. While I became a little tired of the repetition, most young readers will enjoy it just fine.

[Sarvinder Naberhaus · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully buggy! Perfect for science teachers!