Flowers, Dewdrops, and Gardens Resources

The theme for the Kindermusik Village –  Dewdrop Semester, all about flowers and gardens.

My favorite poem that fits right into the theme is the following.  Below the verse, there is a list of more resources on the subject.

The Flowers    by Robert Louis Stevenson

From “A Child’s Garden of Verse”  It can be found as a Little Golden Book.

• All the names I know from nurse:
• Gardener’s garters, Shepherd’s purse,
• Bachelor’s buttons, Lady’s smock,
• and the Lady Hollyhock.
•  
• Fairy places, fairy things,
• Fairy woods where the wild bee wings,
• Tiny trees for tiny dames –
• These must all be fairy names !
• Tiny woods below whose boughs
• Shady fairies weave a house;
• Tiny treetops, rose or thyme,
• Where the braver fairies climb !
•  
• Fair are grown-up people’s trees,
• But the fairest woods are these;
• Where, if I were not so tall,
• I should live for good and all.

 

Favorite Books on the theme of Flowers and Gardens:

 The Carrot Seed, by Ruth Krauss, illustrations by Crockett Johnson, Harper & Row Publishers, 1945       This is the author of Harold and the Purple Crayon.   This is just as wonderful of a story about a young boy taking care of his plants, even though everyone is telling him it WON’T work.  His patience and persistence pay off with a HUGE carrot. 

 

TLC, Grow With Me!  by Lissa Rovetch, ill. by Chum McLeod  – A Do-Re-Me & You Publication  A young girl gets a present from a neighbor, a surprise in a pot of dirt.  She gets hints along the way to learn how to make the surprise appear.  Excellent for children just learning the art of gardening.  Since it is DRMY, of course it comes with a CD of fun songs for gardening.  You may find it on a good sale at www.shopkindermusik.com .

 

Dandelion,  by Don Freeman,       Scholastic, 1964         (Excellent author)    A Lion decides to dress up fancy for a party, but everyone is glad when he gets back to being himself.       

Chrysanthemum, by Kevin Henkes,     GreenWillow Books, 1991  

A young mouse girl is lovingly named by her parents, but once she starts school, she’s not so sure how much she likes her name. 

I absolutely love the extended vocabulary that Dad uses in this book. For 3 and up.

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Inch by Inch, The Garden Song,  by David Mallet and Ora Eiten;  Trophy Picture Books, 1997.  This song is a classic song from the 60’s days of love and peace, and becoming more self-reliant.  The illustrations are simply, yet poignant, and you’ve got to love the biggest beet in the world that is harvested.  I love reading AND singing this to my daughter.   This one is actually very good for even young readers, and they will love you to sing the song – the melody is written on the back pages.

A recorded version is on Mary Miche’s Earthy Tunes album (see below).

Blog Postings on the subject for your enjoyment:

• Dewdrops  (NEW) – Beautiful pictures of dewdrops and rich musical sounds – video format
• Mary Miche’ – Earthy Tunes & Songs for Teaching website – cool gardening songs, including “Inch by Inch”, “Dirt You Made My Lunch”, and so many more.

 

• Musical Flowers and Trees (NEW) – 1932 Disney videos of flowers, trees, and babies