One Little Lot: The 1-2-3s of an Urban Garden [Paperback]

In a bustling, urban neighborhood, count the ways one little lot becomes a beautiful community vegetable garden.

Count all the ways (one to ten) an urban community unites to clean up an abandoned lot. From building planter boxes to pulling weeds to planting seeds, everyone works together to transform the lot into a bountiful vegetable garden. As the garden grows, strangers become friends, eventually sharing in a special feast with the harvest they grew.♦ What to do with an abandoned city lot full of discarded trash and a group of sad honeybees? It takes a visitor with two helping hands and a great imagination to begin the process. It’s not long before a diverse group of adults, teens, and children are working side by side. They bag up trash, paint over graffiti, and build planter boxes. They plant seeds, care for the vegetables and, most importantly, become friends. Every now and then readers see the honeybees keeping an eye on the group’s progress. Young children will see many people collaborating to create something beautiful. Planting and composting are just a few of the many teachable moments in this story. The illustrations are bright and fun, with faces full of expression. It’s refreshing to read a story where people are able to put aside their differences and unite to complete a goal that everyone can take pride in and share. And the bees? They, too, are happy once they have plants to pollinate. In back pages, Mullen explains the necessity of honeybees and gives steps to make a bee-friendly garden. VERDICT By counting one through ten, children will discover how a community garden is built and see neighbors come together to take part in a special feast. This informative title highlights many positive themes. A recommended purchase for all library collections.
—School Library Journal, Starred Review 
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