For more information about Growing Good Kids, visitwww.jmgkids.us/bookawards

2010 Award Winners

Past Award Winners

Bring Me Some Apples andI’ll Make You a Pieby Robbin Gourley

“As the first snow falls, Edna inspectsthe cellar. It is full of good things: nutcakes and cookies, honey and jam, threekinds of dried beans. Rows of cannedcorn, jars of tomatoes, and crocks ofpickles line the shelves. ‘You can neverhave too much summer,’ says Edna.”

The Busy Treeby Jennifer WardIllustrated by Lisa Falkenstern

“A girl plants a seed, it growstoward the sky, taller and strongeras seasons pass by, becoming a tree,a busy tree….Come and see!”

The Curious Gardenby Peter Brown

“Liam may not have been agardener, but he knew that hecould help. So he returned to therailway the very next day and gotto work. The flowers nearlydrowned and he had a fewpruning problems, but the plantspatiently waited while Liamfound better ways ofgardening.”Our Shadow Gardenby Cherie Foster ColburnIllustrated by the children atChildren’s Cancer Hospital atM.D. Anderson Cancer Center

“Nana looked out and saw hernew garden. Her eyes watered uplike mine do when it’s time for meto go home. Then she tiptoed ontothe path, disappearing into hermagical new shadow garden.”

GROWING GOOD KIDSExcellence in Children’s Literature

! 2009 WinnersThe Apple-Pip Princess by Jane RayBig Yellow Sunflower by Frances BarryFlip, Float, Fly by JoAnn Early Macken, illustrated by Pam Paparone

! 2008 WinnersIf I Were a Tree by Dar HostaMother Earth and Her Children by Sibylle Von Olfers, translated by Jack Zipes

illustrated by Sieglinde Schoen-SmithThe Old Tree by Ruth BrownThe Runaway Garden by Jeffery L. Schatzer

! 2007 WinnersJosias, Hold the Book by Jennifer Riesmeyer Elvgren

illustrated by Nicole TadgellOnce Around the Sun by Bobbi Katz, illustrated by LeUyen PhamA Seed is Sleepy by Dianna Hutts Asto, illustrated by Sylvia Long

! 2006 WinnersEarth Mother by Ellen Jackson, illustrated by Leo & Diane DillonLeaf Man by Lois EhlertMiss Ladybird’s Wildflowers by Kathi Appelt, illustrated by Joy Fisher HeinOur Apple Tree by Gorel Kristina Naslund, illustrated by Kristina DigmanThe Tree Farmer by Chuck Leavell and Nicholas Cravotta

illustrated by Rebecca Bleau

The Growing Good Kids—Excellence in Children’s LiteratureAward Program recognizes children’s books that effectivelypromote an appreciation for gardening, plants, and theenvironment.

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! 2005 Inaugural List of Classic BooksBrother Eagle, Sister Sky by Susan Jeffers Camille and the Sunflowers by Laurence AnholtCarrot Seed by Ruth Krauss, illustrated by Crockett Johnson Clara Caterpillar by Pamela Duncan Edwards Empty Pot by DemiThe Gardener by Sarah Stewart and David SmallThe Gazebo by Ethel Pochocki, illustrated by Mary Beth OwenThe Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein The Great Kapok Tree by Lynne CherryHow Groundhog’s Garden Grew by Lynne CherryI Will Never Not Ever Eat a Tomato by Lauren ChildInch by Inch by David Mallett The Leaf Men by William JoyceLily’s Garden by Debora Kogan RayLinnea in Monet’s Garden by Christina Bjork, illustrated by Lena AndersonThe Lorax by Dr. SeussThe Lotus Seed by Sherry Garland, illustrated by Tatsuro KiuchiMiss Rumphius by Barbara CooneyMrs. Spitzer’s Garden by Edith Pattou, illustrated by Mary Beth Owens Oliver’s Vegetables by Vivian French Once There Was a Tree by Natalia Romanova, illustrated by Gennady SpirinA Place to Grow by Stephanie Bloom, illustrated by Kelly MurphyPlantzilla by Jerdine Nolen, illustrated by David CatrowPumpkins by Mary Lyn Ray, illustrated by Barry RootThe Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett, illustrated by Mary CollierScarlette Bean by Karen Wallace, illustrated by Jon BerkeleyThe Shaman’s Apprentice by Lynne Cherry and Mark J. PlotkinSunflower House by Eve Bunting, illustrated by Kathryn HewittSunflower Sal by Janet S. Anderson, illustrated by Elizabeth JohnsThe Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix PotterThe Tin Forest by Helen Ward, illustrated by Wayne Anderson The Tiny Seed by Eric CarleToo Many Pumpkins by Linda White, illustrated by Megan LloydTops and Bottoms by Janet StevensTwo Old Potatoes and Me by John Coy and Carolyn FisherThe Ugly Vegetables by Grace LinWanda’s Roses by Pat Brisson, illustrated by Maryann Cocca-LefflerWeslandia by Paul Fleischman, illustrated by Kevin HawkesWhose Garden is it? by Mary Ann HobermanWild Child by Lynn Plourde, illustrated by Greg Couch

The Mangrove Tree by Susan L. Roth & Cindy Trumbore For a long time, the people of Hargigo, a village in the tiny African country, were living without enough food for themselves and their animals. The families were hungry, and their goats and sheep were hungry too. Then along came a scientist, Dr. Gordon Sato, who helped change their lives for the better. And it all started with some special trees. With alternating verse and prose passages, The Mangrove tree invites readers to discover how Dr. Sato’s mangrove tree-planting project transformed an impoverished village into a self-sufficient community. This fascinating story is a celebration of creativity, hard work—and all those mangrove trees that were planted by the sea!

Meadowlands: A Wetlands Survival Story by Thomas F. Yezerski The 20,000 acres of wetlands in New Jersey now known as the Meadowlands were once home to hundreds of species of plants and animals. But in the four hundred years since European explorers first arrived in the Meadowlands, people have dammed up, drained, built over, and polluted this formerly vibrant ecosystem—and all but destroyed it. Still, signs of life remain—under bridges, on the edges of parking lots, and beside train tracks. Slowly but surely, with help from activist groups, government organizations, and ordinary people, the resilient creatures of the Meadowlands are making a comeback, and the wetlands are recovering

Planting the Wild Garden by Kathryn O. Galbraith, illus. by Wendy Anderson Halperin A farmer and her son plant vegetables in their garden, and the wind carries a few seeds away. Birds and animals may carry some along with them on their travels. Sometimes the rain washes them away to a new and unexpected location. And sometimes something more extraordinary occurs, as in when the pods of the Scotch Broom plant open explosively in the summer heat, scattering seed everywhere like popcorn. Year-round, we all play a role in the dispersal of seeds throughout our landscape, planting the wild garden together.

Water, Weed and Wait by Edith Hope Fine & Angela Demos Halpin, Illus by Colleen Madden When Miss Marigold challenges the kids at Pepper Lane Elementary to turn an unpromising patch of their schoolyard into a garden full of fruits, flowers, and vegetables, they know they'll need all the help they can get. Soon everyone in the community is lending a hand—including an unlikely neighbor with a soft spot for gardening—and it isn't long before peppers, zucchini, sugar peas, snapdragons, zinnias, and much more are growing and blooming. Back matter includes photos of students gardening in real school gardens and information on how readers can start their own school or home garden project.

Nibbles by Charlotte Midleton The guinea pigs of Dandeville love munching dandelion leaves so much that slowly but surely dandelions are disappearing all over town. Soon there is only one dandelion left! A little guinea pig named Nibbles finds this last dandelion right outside his window. What should he do? Nibbles finds a way to save the day—and the dandelions—in the green tale, which is captured in unique mixed-media art.

In the Garden with Dr. Carver by Susan Grigsby, Illus Nicole Tadgell Sally is a young girl living in rural Alabama in the early 1900s, a time when people were struggling to grow food in soil that had been depleted by years of cotton production. One day, Dr. George Washington Carver shows up to help the grownups with their farms and the children with their school garden. He teaches them how to restore the soil and respect the balance of nature. He even prepares a delicious lunch made of plants, including "chicken" made from peanuts. And Sally never forgets the lessons this wise man leaves in her heart and mind. Susan Grigsby's warm story shines new light on an African American scientist who was ahead of his time.