SOLVED. 1960s city children grow grass on a roof. [s]

[Red Fields]

I would have read this book in the late 1960s or early 1970s. I don’t think it was a picture book but I can’t swear to it. It involved a group of kids living in a city setting who wanted a grassy surface (maybe to play on). They planted a lawn on top of a roof and it was pretty awesome as they saw it growing until it turned out that the soil and the watering was too much for the roof structure and it had to be removed.

[Winterwhisper]

short story called Anaeus by Borden Deal. I remember this from my school reader back in the early 70s! I loved this story, thank you
for the memory!!!

[Winterwhisper]

Correction: title is Antaeus. Sorry for bad typing

[Red Fields]

That’s it! I just found it online and read it again! I would never have remembered it was a short story that I read in a school book! It has stayed with me all these years. Back in the early 1980s I planted some tomatoes (in pots) on the roof of my loft in NYC and couldn’t get fruit, the flowers fell off. When I did it, I thought of that sad story. Thank you so much!!!

[Kris]

Glad you found your book, Red Fields. Here's the link for Winterwhisper's find - Antaeus by Borden Deal.

[Red Fields]

Many thanks, Kris! I never thought I would find it! :-)

[Rachel]

Red Fields wrote: "Many thanks, Kris! I never thought I would find it! :-)"

If you haven't, you should read A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.

[Red Fields]

Despite having lived in Brooklyn for some time, I have never read it. I think that’s a great idea, thank you!

[Rachel]

Red Fields wrote: "Despite having lived in Brooklyn for some time, I have never read it. I think that’s a great idea, thank you!"

It's my favorite classic novel set in the United States. I rarely cry when I read books, but when I read this one for my AP US History class, I cried thrice. I finished the whole thing in one sitting in front of our fire on a cold Saturday three winters ago.