Parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and camp counselors! We haven’t hit the solstice yet, but Memorial Day is the unofficial start of summer. Time to think about what the kids will be up to for the next few months. Would you like to divert them away from mind-numbing, thumb-mashing video games and get them into the garden for some good clean dirty fun? Then flip open a copy of Joan Z. Calder’s book, Airplanes In The Garden: Monarch Butterflies Take Flight, and get ready for action.
I can’t think of a more rewarding, long-lasting summer strategy for entertaining (and stealthily educating) youngsters than reading this fancifully illustrated, engagingly written, instructional book. It’s about Sergio and Stanley, a couple of monarch caterpillars who appear one day in a young girl’s garden.
The story opens with pigtailed Bonnie delighting in a small squadron of graceful monarchs wafting through her family’s garden. When her mom asks her what she’s up to, Bonnie replies, “Mom, there are airplanes in the garden!” Her fertile imagination sees the flowers as airports, where butterflies pick up “babies and moms and dads to take them on a trip.”
Mom seems to have a pretty good handle on butterfly life cycles (she must have been the star pupil in her entomology class), and explains to her daughter how momma butterflies lay tiny white eggs under milkweed leaves. And how little, striped caterpillars emerge, turn into chrysalises, only to reappear as delicate butterflies.
Bonnie picks out two favorites, names them Sergio and Stanley, and follows their metamorphosis until the day her be-winged friends take flight, filling the garden with “clouds of flapping wings.”
Here, Bonnie’s story ends, but the book continues with maps showing the migratory routes monarchs follow at different times of the year, and a page loaded with fascinating facts about these wonders of nature. (Bonus for grown-ups: “Monarchs taste with their feet” is the ideal icebreaker at swanky cocktail parties.) There are links to useful resources, including the PBS NOVA episode, “Journey of the Butterflies”, and the University of Kansas’ Monarch Watch website.
If you find yourself motivated to start a butterfly garden, the book ends with instructions for growing your own butterfly haven, including the best food plants for adults (nectar-producing) and caterpillars (they’re leaf-munchers).
Joan Calder is a passionate horticulturist and garden designer living in Santa Barbara, CA (hey, so do I!), She manages a greenhouse for the Department of Ecology, Evolution and Marine Biology at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and nurtures a butterfly garden. The author loves visiting libraries, botanic gardens, and schools, teaching children and adults about the habits and charms of butterflies.
As engaging and well-written as the book is, it’s Cathy Quiel’s giddily rendered, quirky water-colors that will keep readers poring over each page. Her colors are enchanting and rich, and every page is populated with smile inducing little “asides”, like a ladybug flight attendant balancing a cheese sandwich on her back.
I want to see Airplanes in the Garden in homes, libraries, classrooms, and nurseries. When that’s done, I hope to hear about well-loved, slightly soiled, weathered copies of this book finding their way outdoors and into garden. And when the magic is complete, the soft fluttering of delicate, but hard-working orange and black wings.
| SAN FRANCISCO IN JULY!!!
If you find yourself in San Francisco in mid-July don’t miss two (count them, TWO!) opportunities to hear me speak. I’ll be at the San Francisco Conservatory of Flowers, Thursday evening, July 14, presenting a live version of Crimes Against Horticulture: When Bad Taste Meets Power Tools. To top it off, the Conservatory will be in the midst of a Wicked Plants display, inspired by bestselling author Amy Stewart’s book. Two days later (Saturday, July 16, at 11 am), I’ll dazzle attendees with a planting design workshop at the legendary Flora Grubb Gardens, only the coooooolest nursery in this part of the galaxy. (Read my recent article) More details to come, but mark your calendar and spread the word. I’ll be giving away free copies of Fine Gardening Magazine and would love the opportunity to say hello in person. |
Comments
Billy,
I love the review. My grandchildren are thrilled with the book and all my co-workers love it too. Great gift for grandma and grandpa to give. Nice keepsake for baby gifts.
Junbug
A beautifully written book filled with whimsical watercolor illustrations on every page! It's the perfect way to educate children on the mysteries of a monarch butterfly's lifecycle while making it fun and entertaining for everyone!
sac lancel 15 ans d'expérience riche de la vie en Europe,[url=http://www.lancelfrsac.com/]lancel sacs[/url] et sa fascination pour la culture européenne,sac à main lancel Ikeda Kenji travaux n'ont souvent pas d'autre japonais concepteurs EGL intrigue, mais plus intégrés dans la simplicité et l'élégance européenne.[url=http://www.lancelfrsac.com/types-of-lancel-bags/lancel-handbag.html]sac à main lancel[/url] Avant son retour au Japon, Kenji a fondé sa propre marque.
jeremy scott adidas La Chine est le deuxième plus grand marché Adidas, [url=http://www.fradsjsadwings.com]adidas jeremy scott[/url] la société a maintenu à deux chiffres taux de croissance annuelle du marché, et les régions du nord de la croissance est particulièrement significative. D'affaires d'Adidas en Chine, le bureau de Pékin des régions du Nord relevant de la compétence des huit provinces et municipalités relevant directement du gouvernement central a contribué une marque indélébile.[url=http://www.fradsjsadwings.com]adidas wings[/url] Selon les lignes directrices de la route menant à l'horizon 2015 "stratégie, Adidas se concentre sur l'expansion de la couverture des affaires de détail des villes à faible niveau. Actuellement, la société avec des magasins dans la région du Nord de plus de 80% des enfants de cinq,jeremy scott six voies ville. En 2012 seulement, Adidas en Chine a ouvert près de 800 magasins, dont il existe 240 de la région du Nord.
Our Store: http://www.fradsjsadwings.com
Go To Website: [url=http://www.fradsjsadwings.com]www.fradsjsadwings.com[/url]
sac vanessa bruno Since the initiation of this paper in the Indian market, [url=http://www.frvanessabrunosac.com]soldes vanessa bruno[/url] it has made its own alc?ve and is synonymous of raffinée paper. - moyen un ensemble de tailles plus sympathiques carats, ces tailles du diamants et ces options sont freinées. vanessa bruno sac soldes S'il pluvine, assurez-vous succinct vous en votre for intérieur possédez mis ces chaussures dans sécher avant [url=http://www.frvanessabrunosac.com]sac vanessa bruno soldes[/url] du les mettre - sein de une bo?te à sandalettes ou les transporter à plus adapté.
Buy Online : http://www.frvanessabrunosac.com
Go To Website: [url=http://www.frvanessabrunosac.com]http://www.frvanessabrunosac.com[/url]
January 27, 2013
[url=http://www.rogervvworld.com/]roger vivier shoes[/url] There is a great deal of work involved in correct golf course maintenance. When golfers walk across that green velvet lawn with their golf clubs and balls they usually don't think as much about the green as they do about their next hit and their scores. However,roger vivier anyone that works to keep a green in top shape knows there is much more to a good green than just turning on sprinklers or mowing, as important as those two steps are. For a start, you need to have a good base on which to grow that turf so that it is strong and healthy and disease will not be a problem.[url=http://www.rogervvworld.com/roger-vivier-sandals.html]Roger Vivier Sandals[/url] The base must contain the right. Bourbon Balls to Light up the Holidays. Change ingredients to vary flavor.
Store: http://www.rogervvworld.com
Log in or create an account to post a comment.
Sign up Log in