2008 2 x 2 Booklist (3)

Up, Down, and Around by Katherine Ayres

This picture book shows a family planting a garden and having fun doing it. Most importantly the illustrations of the plants and the text informs the reader that some plants grow differently: up (corn), down (carrots), and all around (pumpkins). It also illustrates the types of insects and animals that use these edible plants as food. In the end, the family has a grand feast with the product of their garden. This is a fantastic picture book that not only teaches the importance of team work, it also teaches how plants grow differently. Students will be able to identify with the plants being grown, and how they have eaten some themselves. The text is easy and fun to read since it is in rhyme. I would highly recommend this book to lower grades doing a Science lesson on plants. I feel the strengths of this book are the colorful illustrations, the rhyming text, and the cutaways showing the insects that live and eat the vegetables in the ground.