Behold Our Magical Garden: Poems Fresh from a School Garden by Allan Wolf, Daniel Duncan
Published by Candlewick Press on March 8, 2022
ISBN: 1536204552
Pages: 48
Genres: Fiction in Verse/Poetry
Format: Picture Book Nonfiction
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Poems of various types about the joys and bounty of a school garden, accompanied by delightful illustrations. The poems are simple and entertaining, mostly organized by gardening cycles. This is a great book to choose poems from to read-aloud to K-5 students, from either a poetry or gardening standpoint (or both!).

The illustrations are animated, and in harmony with the text. I occasionally wished the illustrations accompanying the poems offered labels (such as the illustration accompanying Good Bug, Bad Bug, so I would know which was which). Helpful Notes on the Poems in the back matter make this useful for the discussion of how and why the poems were shaped, along with commentary describing tools student gardener-poets should have in their toolbox.

This book is a fabulous way to energize and engage students in gardening and poetry.

Reviewed by Deanna Contrino, Young School Library, Saco