Book Description
Gardeners throughout the region will be welcoming a thoroughly updated and fresh-looking 8th edition of the "bible of Western gardening." With a new, easy-to-read design, more plant photography, larger illustrations, and more than 8,000 plant listings--500 of them new--it's THE essential book for gardeners in the Western states. What plants to grow, how to nurture them, and where they do the very best--it's all here. You'll also find updated information on the Western climate zones, 30 Plant Selection Guides, plus a Practical Guide to Gardening with basic advice on plant care and essential gardening techniques. New plant lists reflect current trends, such as Mediterranean gardening and easy-care plants for beginners. For more than 70 years, Sunset has been the source for no-nonsense gardening advice, easy-to-follow diagrams, and encyclopedic knowledge of plant varieties. In this edition, we introduce an exciting new feature: gardening tips from well-known plant experts throughout the West. The Western Garden Book has never been better! Features:
8th Edition of this perennial bestseller
More than 8,000 plant listings, 500 new, keyed to climate zones
30 Plant Selection Guides to find the perfect plant for every situation
Special contributions from 40 eminent Western garden experts
Introduction by Sunset garden editor Kathleen N. Brenzel, with a photographic tour of gardens that are truly the `Best of the West' gardens
Customer Reviews:
In great condition!!.......2007-09-21
The book is in great condition and I received it very quickly. Thank you so much!
a must have!.......2007-09-20
Anyone, from the curious to the beginning gardener to the expert must have this volume on their shelf. It is full of well organized information.
Best garden book there is.......2007-09-16
Got a garden???? You NEED this book NOW! I'm a native Californian, and this is our garden Bible. I don't think anyone gardens without it. I'm in Massachusetts now, and I wanted this book to create my new garden. This book is well worth the investment.
It's easy to see why SUNSET WESTERN GARDEN BOOK has become the reference 'bible'.......2007-09-08
Over 8,000 plants are accompanied by tips from Western gardening pros in SUNSET WESTERN GARDEN BOOK, a classic completely updated and revised, and now in its 8th edition. From small color drawings of plants and seeds to descriptions which include hardiness zones, use, varieties and more, it's easy to see why SUNSET WESTERN GARDEN BOOK has become the reference 'bible' for any Western gardener and for any library catering to them.
Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch
Best for the West.......2007-09-07
The Sunset Western Garden Book is the gardener's bible. For beginners to experts, it's the definitive guide to everything related to gardening. It is to gardeners what the Joy of Cooking is to cooks.
Book Description
Do you know what the best feature is in All New Square Foot Gardening?
Sure, there are ten new features in this all-new, updated book. Sure, it's even simpler than it was before. Of course, you don't have to worry about fertilizer or poor soil ever again because you'll be growing above the ground.
But, the best feature is that anyone, anywhere can enjoy a Square Foot garden. Children, adults with limited mobility, even complete novices can achieve spectacular results.
But, let's get back to the ten improvements. You're going to love them.
1)
New
Location - Move your garden closer to your house by eliminating single-row gardening. Square Foot Garden needs just twenty percent of the space of a traditional garden.
2)
New
Direction - Locate your garden on top of existing soil. Forget about pH soil tests, double-digging (who enjoys that?), or the never-ending soil improvements.
3)
New
Soil - The new "Mel's Mix" is the perfect growing mix. Why, we even give you the recipe. Best of all, you can even buy the different types of compost needed.
4)
New
Depth - You only need to prepare a SFG box to a depth of 6 inches! It's true--the majority of plants develop just fine when grown at this depth.
5)
No Fertilizer - The all new SFG does not need any fertilizer-ever! If you start with the perfect soil mix, then you don't need to add fertilizer.
6)
New Boxes - The new method uses bottomless boxes placed aboveground. We show you how to build your own (with step-by-step photos).
7)
New Aisles - The ideal gardening aisle width is about three to four feet. That makes it even easier to kneel, work, and harvest.
8)
New Grids - Prominent and permanent grids added to your SFG box help you visualize the planting squares and know how to space for maximum harvest.
9)
New Seed Saving Idea - The old-fashioned way advocates planting many seeds and then thinning the extras (that means pulling them up). The new method means planting a pinch- literally two or three seeds--per planting hole.
10)
Tabletop Gardens - The new boxes are so much smaller and lighter (only 6 inches of soil, remember?), you can add a plywood bottom to make them portable.
Of course, that's not all. We've also included simple, easy-to-follow instructions using lots of photos and illustrations. You're going to love it!
Average customer rating:
- Good Stories, but Too Disconnected
- Inspiring Seedfolks
- A Garden of Love
- A Book for Building Community
- Good reading for children
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Seedfolks (Joanna Colter Books)
Paul Fleischman
Manufacturer: HarperTeen
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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Out Of The Dust
ASIN: 0064472078
Release Date: 2004-12-14 |
Amazon.com
Sometimes, even in the middle of ugliness and neglect, a little bit of beauty will bloom. Award-winning writer Paul Fleischman dazzles us with this truth in Seedfolks--a slim novel that bursts with hope. Wasting not a single word, Fleischman unfolds a story of a blighted neighborhood transformed when a young girl plants a few lima beans in an abandoned lot. Slowly, one by one, neighbors are touched and stirred to action as they see tendrils poke through the dirt. Hispanics, Haitians, Koreans, young, and old begin to turn the littered lot into a garden for the whole community. A gift for hearts of all ages, this gentle, timeless story will delight anyone in need of a sprig of inspiration.
Book Description
A vacant lot, rat-infested and filled with garbage, looked like no place for a garden. Especially to a neighborhood of strangers where no one seems to care. Until one day, a young girl clears a small space and digs into the hard-packed soil to plant her precious bean seeds. Suddenly, the soil holds promise: To Curtis, who believes he can win back Lateesha's heart with a harvest of tomatoes; to Virgil's dad, who sees a fortune to be made from growing lettuce; and even to Maricela, sixteen and pregnant, wishing she were dead.
Thirteen very different voices -- old, young, Haitian, Hispanic, tough, haunted, and hopeful -- tell one amazing story about a garden that transforms a neighborhood.
Chosen as a state and citywide read in communities across the country:
Vermont
Racine, WI
Tampa, FL
Newburgh, NY
Boca Raton, FL
Customer Reviews:
Good Stories, but Too Disconnected.......2007-05-31
It all started with one little girl. Kim's father died before she was even born, and she is afraid that he might not know her as he looks down from heaven. So she decides to do something to make him recognize her and to make him proud. He was a farmer back in Vietnam, so she takes a handful of bean seeds to a trash-covered vacant lot near her inner-city apartment and plants them. When he looks down and sees them, he will know she is his daughter.
Someone looks down from a window and is intrigued by this girl who keeps visiting the vacant lot in secret. Upon investigation she sees what is going on and decides to clear a little patch of land for a tiny garden of her own. Others observe and like the idea, and soon the vacant lot is covered with a patchwork of gardens from all sorts of people living nearby. Someone is able to bully the city into moving the trash off of this land. People who usually avoid eye contact at all cost are suddenly meeting neighbors and relating to one another. Through this garden project, a neighborhood of strangers becomes a real community.
I liked the characters in this story. They were all very vivid and their stories were well thought out. I also liked being able to see the different perspectives on this garden, and the different reasons people decided to plant things here.
I didn't like that each person's story was just dropped after it was told. I wanted the author to go back and write what the people were thinking. What did Kim think when her garden idea caught on? Was Sam able to stop the segregation he saw developing in the garden? I wanted some followup to each story.
Inspiring Seedfolks.......2007-04-25
Seedfolks is a book about a vacant city lot in Cleveland, Ohio that is abandoned until one day a Vietnamese girl decides to plant some beans as a way to become connected to her father who died before she was born. It tells the story of 13 different people who come together by this garden. They are all different ages and have different ethnic backgrounds and jobs. Somehow this garden brings them all together and means something different to each of them. The individual stories are interesting and touching.
My favorite part of the book is Gonzolo's Tio Juan story. He came to the U.S. with Gonzolo's mother and brother. Because he didn't speak English and couldn't work he would wonder around all day long with nothing to do and had to be baby sat by Gonzolo who who referred to him as a baby. One day he went off on his own in the neighborhood and came across the garden. The next day he went back and started working in the garden and planting seeds. Back in Guatemala he used to be a farmer and this gave him life again and he went from being a baby back to a man again.
I would recommend that you read Seedfolks. I think you will be touched by the 13 different people who are brought together through this community garden. In Reading Gonzolo's story it made me think about my Mom's parents who are immigrants from Portugal and how they too must of felt like Gonzolo's Tio Juan when they first arrived in the U.S., like they were babies and didn't know anything.
A Garden of Love.......2006-05-11
Seedfolks is a 69 page book, an easy read. Seedfolks is a book that shows that all different races, religions, cultures, and ages can come together to make something nice and beautiful and have meaning. They took a dump-like place and made it into something beautiful.
Some things I liked about this book were, that you can see how the author makes it so everyone of different backgrounds and stuff come together and do something together as one whole. Another thing that I liked about the book was that the author demonstrates how you can except people for who they are. In this story it seems like everyone is the equal and stuff like that. Like for example there was thing young girl who was pregnant and when this book was written it was like a big deal if you were pregnant at an early age but when she went to the garden no one judged her or anything like that. Another good thing about the book is that there is like no anger or anything bad in it, it seems like when everyone goes to the garden all there problems go away and most people go there to relax and just have fun.
Some things I didn't like about the book were that you cant really get to know one character because the character only has like 3 or 4 pages and there is 13 characters in the book so there really isn't one main character. Also in this book there was no plot, climax and there wasn't that big of a problem I mean there was a little one but it really didn't have a lot to do with what was going on in the book. Another bad thing about the book is it wasn't very interesting I'm the type of person who likes to read a book that you cant put down that you get really into but with this book I didn't feel that way. Overall I think Seedfolks was a decent book.
A Book for Building Community.......2006-04-25
This small book (69 pages) contains thirteen vignettes, each written from the point of view of a different person. Although the people begin as strangers from various ethnic backgrounds, they become acquainted as each cultivates a part of a vacant lot. As the lot becomes a place of beauty, individual lives are transformed as well -- and a community is created.
_Seedfolks_ is an excellent tool for building community among people with diverse backgrounds -- perhaps especially among educators, parents, and students.
Good reading for children.......2006-04-25
This is a good book for children who does not understand the meaning of working together. Also, this book was structured very intelligently; so that any reader can follow the same story but from other people point of views. In addition; the way the author painted colorful pictures of the city was very unique.
Book Description
Discover how to create a backyard bird sanctuary with the expert guidance of the National Audubon Society. Your backyard will come alive by applying these feeding and gardening techniques. Includes a photographic guide to the birds of North America, as well as the trees and plants that attract them. The ultimate resource for anyone interested in creating a bird-friendly habitat.
Customer Reviews:
Excellent book for newer bird watcher........2007-03-08
We found your book to be full of beautiful bird pictures and good information. A excellent book especially for the newer back yard bird watcher. An excellent addition and tool for anyones library. A beautiful gift.
Great pictures, information, poor selection of birds.......2007-01-23
I purchased this book for myself and our children to aid us in identifying the birds that are visiting our southern Arizona feeders. Unfortunately I found many of the birds we see were missing from this guide. It's got fantastic pictures, and excellent full page details on each bird which IS included, such as song, nesting habits and duration. I was very impressed with the guides on how to make your own birdfeeders of various types as well as the helpful guide in the back regarding landscaping for birds. Unfortunately, because it's not a regional book, it is proving to be less useful than I hoped. It's a great book to start with, but I think many birdwatchers, even casual ones like myself, will quickly wish for a more comprehensive guide.
Great book, informative on many levels.......2006-12-15
I am new to birdwatching and purchased this book along with Sibley Field Guide to Birds of Eastern North America. The Sibley guide covers more birds, but the Audubon has all of the common ones that I see in my yard, and has actual photos of the book as opposed to the drawings in the Sibley guide. I find that I refer to both of them frequently, however the Audubon book is one that you can sit down and read, whereas the Sibley one is a true field guide with just a paragraph on each type of bird. The Audobon book is a great starter book, and not only contains information on particular bird species, but also has great information on bird behavior and things you can do to encourge more visitors to your yard. I have enjoyed this book so much I just purchased it as a Christmas gift for my sister who is new to birdwatching also.
excellant book for the money.......2006-08-12
Well illustrated, informative,helpful,perfectly priced.I recomend this book to amateurs and veterans of this hobby, this is a beautiful book easily worth the money.
YOU CANNOT GO WRONG WITH THIS ONE.......2006-06-23
I have been a rather serious birder for well over fifty years now and when I first saw this book (it was a gift) I almost felt insulted...back yard birder indeed! Well, I was wrong...I admit it. I have actually enjoyed this one far more that several of the many hundred or so more technical books on the subject that inhabit my shelves. This is a wonderful quick reference and is quite well organized. I have interested grandchildern and I not when they are here, which is almost daily, they reach for this volume far more than any of the others. Sharing my passion and hobby with them is great and this work is a wonderful help tool. Recommend it highly.
Amazon.com
For twenty years people have relied on these hundreds of recipes, instructions, and morsels of invaluable practical advice on all aspects of growing and preparing food. This definitive classic on food, gardening, and self-sufficient living is a complete resource for living off the land with over 800 pages of collected wisdom from country maven, Carla Emery--how to cultivate a garden, buy land, bake bread, raise farm animals, make sausage, milk a goat, grow herbs, churn butter, catch a pig, make soap, work with bees and more. Encyclopedia of Country Living is so basic, so thorough, so reliable, it deserves a place in every home--whether in the country, the city, or somewhere in between.
Book Description
Initially self-published 20 years ago, The Encyclopedia of Country Living has become the trusted guidebook to sustainable, self-sufficient living. Filled with memorable anecdotes, crucial advice, and a generous helping of good humor, this compendium provides detailed information about food production — growing, processing, cooking, and preserving — together with hundreds of illustrations and recipes. With updates of over 1,100 mail order sources, including websites and email addresses, this revised edition is the definitive classic text for living off the land. “Carla Emery is certifiably one of the craziest, warmest, ... funniest, wisest, most lovable, and idealistic zanies now walking the earth.” — Mother Earth News
Customer Reviews:
Excellent Resource.......2007-08-06
I love this book. I've been reading it a little bit at a time and each day I learn something new and important. I'm driving everyone crazy with quotes from this new 'bible'... we are new to the country, trying hard to live a 'greener' life, and this book promises much help in that regard. If you are looking for a book that gives you a lot of helpful information on just about anything to do with becoming self-sustaining, this is the one!
Great advice, but not perfect detail.......2007-07-23
When we city folks moved to our homestead in 2001 this is the book I used, holding it in one hand while attempting to milk a goat or butcher a chicken with the other hand. Some things, like chicken housing, were hard to figure out; but maybe you can't really get some things until you get there. Some subjects it's practically impossible to find better information elsewhere, and no other book has even close to the coverage, although not everything is covered (no fiber arts, nor beer/wine making, for example)
But as I've gained experience and read zillions of other books since then, I have found that this is a human book, there are errors and the details aren't always perfect nor the recipes complete. This is more like having a homesteader aunt or grandmother who will tell you stories and give advice, rather than a database of the latest information on every topic. For those of us who didn't grow up on the farm, that old timer advice is really invaluable!
A BOOK EVERYONE SHOULD OWN!.......2007-07-07
This book truly was worth every penny I spent on it. It is chocked full of invaluable information. It tells everything from how to make coffee from acorns to the fact that you can use eggs to keep deer out of your garden. There is always at least the basic know-how given. The author always gives you resources to find all the info you could possibly want, although I haven't found the need for more information then the book itself provides. This book is great for anyone, whether you live in the country or not. The author explains everything so that anyone can understand it making it seems like she's talking to you as a friend. Even if you are not intersted in using what you learn in this book on a day to day basis it is if nothing else an ideal book to have in case of an emergency. I will be purchasing more copies of this book in the future to give as gifts.
It's the Encyclopedia of human existence..........2007-06-14
I've had a small farm all of my life and I find myself referencing this book at least once a week. It's difficult to give a review on something so vast, because there is really nothing else like it. If you can think of a topic, it's covered in The Encyclopedia of Country Living. I will say this, if terrorists ever attack us in a large-scale way, or a large meteor comes crashing to earth, I would not want to be without this comprehensive encyclopedia.
J. P. Landry, author of Hazard 666
A treasure trove of info........2007-05-18
I really like the information in this book. I see complaints that it doesn't go very far in depth on most issues, but it IS intended as an all-encompassing encyclopedia. The book is good as a quick-look reference; and if you have the need for deeper information into any one of the categories, you can search for another book that specifically encompasses that subject.
I think anyone interested in self sufficiency, homesteading, or country living should get this book. It is great for getting an overall sense of what it's like to live these lifestyles while leaving deeper, specialized topics for other books.
Average customer rating:
- Great Garden Designs with Excellant Information
- Excellent Resource
- Inspirational Garden Book
- This is Essential
|
The Essential Garden Book
Terence Conran
Manufacturer: Crown
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
Landscape
| Architecture
| Professional & Technical
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Garden Design
| Gardening & Horticulture
| Home & Garden
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Terence Conran
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ASIN: 0517708108
Release Date: 1998-03-03 |
Customer Reviews:
Great Garden Designs with Excellant Information.......2006-06-29
This is, without a doubt, one of the finest gardening design books I have come across. It shows many different styles of gardens with distinct flair. If you want to be inspired by innovative ideas, buy it. It is one of my two favorite gardening books---and I have many.
Excellent Resource.......2006-03-09
This book is a beautifully photographed, well written book about landscaping. It is like owning a pictoral encyclopedia for gardeners.
Inspirational Garden Book.......2003-02-12
One of the most useful and innovative garden books. If you are looking for inspiration, this is a good one to buy.
This is Essential.......2000-09-29
The pictures are inspirational and the advise is practical and lyrical. The authors write well and LOVE gardens of all kinds. Everything is covered from balconys to estates, minimal to extravagant, and covered thoughly with many idea engendering photos.
Average customer rating:
- Jerry Baker Giant Book of Garden Solutions
- Jerry Baker rules!
- jerry baker's giant book of garden solutions
- great book
- Great garden manual -- I recommend everyone get one
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Jerry Baker's Giant Book of Garden Solutions: 1,954 Natural Remedies to Handle Your Toughest Garden Problems (Jerry Baker's Good Gardening series)
Jerry Baker
Manufacturer: American Master Products, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Jerry Baker
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Jerry Baker's Green Grass Magic: Tips, Tricks, and Tonics for Growing the Toe-Ticklinest Turf in Town! (Jerry Baker's Good Gardening series)
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Jerry Baker's Bug Off!: 2,193 Super Secrets for Battling Bad Bugs, Outfoxing Crafty Critters, Evicting Voracious Varmints and Much More! (Jerry Baker's Good Gardening series)
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ASIN: 0922433763 |
Book Description
Common household products and down-home ingenuity are combined to combat frustrating garden problems in this indispensable handbook for both green thumbs and novice gardeners. Organized by garden area, 1,954 easy-to-use homemade remedy recipes—containing items such as beer, baby shampoo, and ammonia—instruct gardeners how to turn puny plants, wretched roots, and tired trees into gorgeous garden specimens without the use of store-bought chemical alternatives. Quick fixes are offered for fighting fungus with pantyhose, defeating botanical disease with peppermint, and bug-proofing vegetables with mustard and cloves; and obstacles such as heavy rains, nutritional plant deficiencies, and gardening on sloped areas are also discussed.
Customer Reviews:
Jerry Baker Giant Book of Garden Solutions.......2007-08-24
I am enjoying this book very much. It has all kinds of solutions to problems I have in my garden.
I will be using this book for years to come..
Jerry Baker rules!.......2007-07-16
I would read this book even if I didn't have a garden! It is more than informative. I feel like I am listening to a favorite uncle telling stories of the good ol" days and how things were done simply and effectively. I love this book and highly recommend it. -Mary
jerry baker's giant book of garden solutions.......2007-07-05
some good info on natural remidies but you need to get through all of the 'cute' riddles and hokey sayings to get there. I do enjoy a little 'quip' now and then for a fun read but this book is kind of like a preschoolers guide to potions. A little too much goofyness for some needed garden information.
great book.......2007-06-15
Very good book. Alot of good information.
Great garden manual -- I recommend everyone get one.......2007-05-07
The first Jerry Baker book I purchased and love it... 5 stars!!
Customer Reviews:
very helpful.......2007-07-16
As a Master Gardener it is very helpful in identifying weeds. So many times I know the weed as one thing and someone else calls it something else.
fantastic beginner book.......2007-05-14
This is a fantastic book for the beginner botanist and gardener. Though it doesn't mention every weedy plant you may run into (and if it did, the book would likely be two inches thick), it does include most weeds that you will run into. What I really love about this book is that for each species mentioned, there are usually two or three accompanying photos, making a quick ID unusually easy. Like most identification guides, this book works best when accompanied by a more comprehensive guide for those species that a quick reference guide can't provide.
Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Weeds............2007-03-23
This is the BEST book on the subject......and coming from the experts at Cornell, it is to be expected. Fine photography, making identification a breeze. A great addition to the home library!
Identifying Weeds.......2007-03-13
Nice book and I think it will be very helpful this summer to understand which plants are weeds and how to deal with them. Book was recommended by a plant expert as a very helpful tool.
Northeast Weed Bible.......2006-09-13
This book is absolutely the best on weeds of the Northeast. This is a must for the library of every gardener or landscaper. It is easily readable, yet has the depth for those who need greater information about the subject. Easily, the most practical format, and it has a detailed index for cross referencing between the common and taxonomic. It also includes a chart on grasses.
Book Description
This all-new second edition, the companion book to the much-beloved Western Garden Book, promises to be just as successful as the first. Packed with expert advice from landscape designers, gardeners, and others, it addresses climatic, soil, and topographical challengesand solutionsfor Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, Wyoming, and southwestern Canada. Features nThe only landscaping guide designed specifically for Western gardeners nOver 600 photographs and dozens of ready-to-use landscape plans nStep-by-step illustrations and exploded views show easy, do-it-yourself solutions nSeasonal gardening guides and checklists ensure year-round success for experienced and novice gardeners alike nEasy-to-understand plant selection and growing instructions
Amazon.com
Lois Ehlert, beloved illustrator of Chicka Chicka Boom Boom and many other bold, beautiful picture books has outdone herself with this gorgeous (seriously breathtaking) celebration of butterfly metamorphosis. "Out in the fields, eggs are hidden from view, / clinging to leaves with butterfly glue. / Soon caterpillars hatch. They creep and chew. / Each one knows what it must do." As the gentle rhyme unfolds, we turn the small, partial pages that form the larger spread of fabulous foliage in this lush, oversized book. Before our eyes, the eggs turn to caterpillars, the caterpillars to cases, the cases to lovely butterflies. "They pump their wings, get ready to fly, then hungry butterflies head for the sky." The colors become increasingly dazzling, each butterfly springing to life with Ehlert's color-soaked cut-paper magic. Several pages of background material conclude the book, labeling different kinds of butterflies at different stages of development, from the buckeye butterfly to the painted lady to the monarch. A "Butterfly Information" page clearly labels butterfly anatomy and answers basic question about these fascinating fluttery insects, a "Flower Identification" page showcases butterfly-attracting flowers such as the purple coneflower (echinacea), phlox, and lantana, and the last page offers a few pointers on growing a butterfly garden. (Ages 3 to 6) --Karin Snelson
Book Description
Every spring, butterflies emerge and dazzle the world with their vibrant beauty. But where do butterflies come from? How are they born? What do they eat--and how?
With a simple, rhyming text and glorious color-drenched collage, Lois Ehlert provides clear answers to these and other questions as she follows the life cycle of four common butterflies, from their beginnings as tiny hidden eggs and hungry caterpillars to their transformation into full-grown butterflies. Complete with butterfly and flower facts and identification tips, as well as a guide to planting a butterfly garden, this butterfly book is like no other.
Customer Reviews:
Art"full" Wings........2007-06-29
Lois Ehlert takes you on a colorful, intriguing story about the life cycle of a butterfly. Excellent for art students at any level! Text is simple enough for preschoolers and can be enjoyed through the elementary grades. Enjoy this exciting trip through nature and its wonders!
But Where do Caterpillars Come From?.......2006-09-12
This is a beautiful and very clever book. Pages are cocooned within larger pages, with individual illustrations blending seamlessly into the background illustrations. Like the natural world itself, this book rewards the patient observer, with rich details on the surface and others folded in more subtly. Your kids will be focused in on a little book within the big book, as the caterpillar goes on its journey. It makes the launch to the story within the bigger background pages all the more dynamic, striking as the shift from Kansas to Oz.
It starts with the eggs "hidden from view,/ clinging to leaves with butterfly glue." As we turn the pages of a little book enshrouded in the bigger book, we see the caterpillars hatch, "each one knows what it must do," and we follow the path to metamorphosis. Ultimately, the reader will be rewarded with multiple beautiful butterflies launching up towards the sky, a nice Lepidopterian metaphor for the developmental adventures in store for our little ones. It's a good job of story-telling when we know exactly where the story is going but still find ourselves awestruck.
Finally, as if Ms. Ehlert hadn't done enough, we get several pages at the end on butterfly identification, with information on colors, wingspans shown in actual size, the corresponding caterpillars that precede the butterflies, and the like. We get flower information, and then tips on growing your own butterfly garden. Nice stuff.
Get this book, drill it for a few night-night times, and then take your toddlers to a butterfly pavilion to see the real deal. Good times.
Color,color,color!.......2006-03-20
As usual, Lois Ehlert stimulates and educates the young reader about the mysteries of caterpillars to butterflies. Not only are the colors absolutely stunning, she provides factual information about different species. This book was a fabulous preparation for my classroom of small children as they watched their own caterpillars prepare for their magical transformation!
A Life's Journey.......2005-07-27
Waiting for Wings is a picture book showing the life cycle of a butterfly. The story uses tantalizing pictures and simple words to explain how a caterpillar becomes a butterfly. The book takes the reader through the stages of the caterpillar's life. Once the caterpillar has become a butterfly the story changes to how a butterfly lives its life. The illustrations pull the reader into this book. The print is large and easy to read for young reader. The text also rhymes for two pages at a time. As the caterpillar grows the pages become larger, until the butterfly hatches. As the butterfly begins its flight the pages are full size. The illustrations and page sizes are wonderful for young readers. This book also contains identification pages on butterflies and the flowers they eat.
Toddlers and Babies, too!.......2004-05-24
I have a three year old daughter who must be read to before sleeping. I also have a three month old baby girl who is often in the bed with us while we read. Often, the baby is restless and cries before we finish our books. Waiting for Wings is a fabulous solution. I find this interesting AND educational for my toddler. In addition, the colors are bright and contrasting, allowing my baby to be entertained while the book is read.
Books:
- Taylor's Guide to Orchids: More Than 300 Orchids, Photographed and Described, for Beginning to Expert Gardeners (Taylor's Gardening Guides)
- Taylor's Guide to Ornamental Grasses: More Than 165 of These Versatile, Low-Maintenance Plants, Pictured in Color with Full Descriptions of How to Use Them (Taylor's Gardening Guides)
- Texas Gardening the Natural Way: The Complete Handbook
- The Art of Being a Woman: A Simple Guide to Everyday Love and Laughter
- The Art of Landscape Detail: Fundamentals, Practices, and Case Studies
- The Candlemaker's Companion: A Complete Guide to Rolling, Pouring, Dipping, and Decorating Your Own Candles
- The Candlemaker's Companion: A Complete Guide to Rolling, Pouring, Dipping, and Decorating Your Own Candles
- The Complete Book of Bonsai
- The Complete Illustrated Guide to Furniture and Cabinet Construction
- The Complete Illustrated Guide to Furniture and Cabinet Construction
Books Index
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