The Good Garden: How One Family Went from Hunger to Having Enough

The Good Garden: How One Family Went from Hunger to Having Enough by Katie Smith Milway and illustrated by Sylvie Daigneault (obtained as an electronic galley at NetGalley) is an inspiring story of a young girl from the hills of Honduras who helped her family learn how to grow their crops sustainably. Although listed in the children’s nonfiction section, the use of dialogue and made up names pushes it over into the creative nonfiction category.

In the beginning María’s family was struggling to grow enough even to feed themselves. When a new teacher comes to town, he teaches everyone new ways to grow crops, for example using terraces to cut down on erosion. Later he shows María and her family how to take their extra vegetables to the town and sell them directly, cutting out the greedy middle men called coyotes. By the end, they are able to make enough money to cover their basic needs.

Sylvie Daigneault’s illustrations are really what make this book. They are simply magical. You can see full examples in this post by Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast.

The Good Garden: How One Family Went from Hunger to Having Enough (CitizenKid) has a wonderful message about grassroots change and sustainability issues, but it also is an excellent introduction to another language and another culture. It has numerous Spanish words sprinkled throughout the text. With all that is being said recently about lack of diversity in children’s books, here is one prominent exception.

Trailer:

Age Range: 8 and up
Hardcover: 32 pages
Publisher: Kids Can Press (September 1, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1554534887
ISBN-13: 978-1554534883

Nonfiction Monday is a blogging celebration of nonfiction books for kids. We invite you to join us. For more information and a schedule, stop by Booktalking to see who is hosting each week.

Today’s round up is at Ms. Yingling Reads.

10 Replies to “The Good Garden: How One Family Went from Hunger to Having Enough”

This title pairs perfectly with Jama’s contribution this Nonfiction Monday! The video trailer was lovely, too.

So nice to hear about this book. Will have to look for it. Thanks for the nice review and for posting the trailer. 🙂

What an amazing trailer! I think you know that I am a sucker for multicultural and multilingual books, so I am definitely going to look this one up!

Well, now I’m motivated to go out and tie up my tomatoes! Just put mulch down on my strawberries as well. Thanks for the post!

The subject is extremely relevant today as food prices keep going up. Thanks for reviewing the excellent book. I have put this on hold at the library right away!
-Reshama
http://www.stackingbooks.com

Tara,

Yes, it does fit nicely with Molly’s Organic Farm.

Thanks Jama, I will be looking for yours as well. 🙂

Jen,

Yes, I know you appreciate multicultural books. Hope you enjoy it.

Ms. Yingling,

Wish I had your motivation. It is just too hot for gardening here right now.

Thanks so much for your review on this wonderful and important story! And also for linking up to our Multicultural Children’s Book Day. I think these types of picture books can inspire kids to change the world!

Tara says:

July 1, 2013 at 5:10 am

This title pairs perfectly with Jama’s contribution this Nonfiction Monday! The video trailer was lovely, too.
jama says:

July 1, 2013 at 8:06 am

So nice to hear about this book. Will have to look for it. Thanks for the nice review and for posting the trailer. 🙂
Jen says:

July 1, 2013 at 9:12 am

What an amazing trailer! I think you know that I am a sucker for multicultural and multilingual books, so I am definitely going to look this one up!
Ms. Yingling says:

July 1, 2013 at 10:20 am

Well, now I’m motivated to go out and tie up my tomatoes! Just put mulch down on my strawberries as well. Thanks for the post!
Reshama says:

July 1, 2013 at 1:56 pm

The subject is extremely relevant today as food prices keep going up. Thanks for reviewing the excellent book. I have put this on hold at the library right away!
-Reshama
http://www.stackingbooks.com
Roberta says:

July 1, 2013 at 5:06 pm

Tara,

Yes, it does fit nicely with Molly’s Organic Farm.
Roberta says:

July 1, 2013 at 5:07 pm

Thanks Jama, I will be looking for yours as well. 🙂
Roberta says:

July 1, 2013 at 5:08 pm

Jen,

Yes, I know you appreciate multicultural books. Hope you enjoy it.
Roberta says:

July 1, 2013 at 5:09 pm

Ms. Yingling,

Wish I had your motivation. It is just too hot for gardening here right now.
PramgaticMom says:

November 29, 2013 at 8:41 pm

Thanks so much for your review on this wonderful and important story! And also for linking up to our Multicultural Children’s Book Day. I think these types of picture books can inspire kids to change the world!