Scarlette Beane

I love this book with all my heart. It always makes me smile and laff. It is like magic.

Mrs. Bean's daughter grows to be tall and strong like the vegetables in her garden, and her efforts in her garden produce wonders which become a family affair in this story of gardening delights and a small girl's special talents.

I just read this book to my son's 3 year old nursery school class and everyone loved it - the children, the teachers and myself. The teacher even asked for the title so she could get it to read to the kids. It is fun to see all of the veggies in such big proportions - the boys respond to the forklifts, chain saws etc.

Good folksy fairy tale where the protagonist is a girl not scared to get her magical green fingers dirty. My two year old immediately loved the story of a young baby growing into a little girl and "doing something wonderful." I like that there are lots of opportunities to identify and name vegetables in the exciting if not overly refined illustrations. Also, I really recommend this book for its sense of community -- when the village comes together to harvest and eat Scarlette's giant vegetables, it's great to notice that women drive forklifts, priests sit down to eat with tattooed bikers and neighbors come in all shapes and colors. These details are not at issue in the content of the story, but added for discovery in the ilustrations.

I have been looking for a book on gardening and growing things for young children and this is just the thing. Adding magic to a child's love of gardening works because gardens can be magical. I'm using this in a storyhour for 3 - 5 year old children.