Children's Fiction Family Life
Benjamin Grows a Garden
- Publisher
- Kids Can Press
- Initial publish date
- Sep 2025
- Category
- Family Life, Recycling & Green Living, Parents, Flowers & Plants
-
Hardback
- ISBN
- 9781525303210
- Publish Date
- Sep 2025
- List Price
- $21.99
Add it to your shelf
Where to buy it
Recommended Age, Grade, and Reading Levels
- Age: 3 to 7
- Grade: p to 2
- Reading age: 3 to 7
Description
Readers follow along step-by-step as Benjamin plants and cares for his garden and imagines the harvest to come.
Benjamin loves springtime. The grass grows bright green, the birds sing sweet songs and, best of all, Benjamin and his mother start their garden. In just the right order, they plant mahtâmin (corn), pîmiciwacis (beans), and osawipak (squash) for Three Sisters Soup. They plant strawberries to serve with bannock, then zucchini, tomatoes, cucumbers. Benjamin and his mom lovingly tend to the garden and watch it grow into a plentiful harvest with enough to share. Throughout the whole summer, Benjamin dreams about the fall, when they'll have all the ingredients for a feast - and everyone will be invited!
In this heartwarming story, award-winning author Melanie Florence evocatively portrays the pleasures and rewards of growing and sharing food. The steps of the gardening process - digging holes, planting seeds, watering - are carefully described, and the yearly cycle of growing, harvesting, eating and then starting again the next year is emphasized. Special attention is paid to the tradition of planting corn, beans and squash together so that each plant by its nature helps the others grow. Benjamin and his mother use Cree words throughout the story, and a pronunciation guide is included at the back of the book for further inquiry. Vivid illustrations by Hawlii Pichette make this a perfect follow-up to the author and illustrator duo's previous book, Benjamin's Thunderstorm.
About the authors
MELANIE FLORENCE est une autrice primée d’origine crie et écossaise qui vit à Toronto, en Ontario. Elle a écrit Sans Nimâmâ, qui lui a valu le prix TD de littérature canadienne pour l’enfance et la jeunesse en 2016 ainsi que le prix Golden Oak de la Forêt de la lecture en 2017, et une nomination à titre de finaliste aux prix First Nations Communities READ, la même année. Son album Les mots volés a remporté le prix Ruth et Sylvia Schwartz de littérature jeunesse en 2018, en plus d’être finaliste au prix Marilyn Baillie. Parmi ses autres livres, on compte Righting Canada’s Wrongs: Residential Schools et les romans pour adolescents Just Lucky, He Who Dreams, The Missing, One Night et Rez Runaway. Elle a également coécrit Autumn Bird and the Runaway avec Richard Scrimger.
MELANIE FLORENCE is an award-winning writer of Cree and Scottish heritage based in Toronto, Ontario. She is the author of Missing Nimâmâ, which won the 2016 TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award, the 2017 Forest of Reading Golden Oak Award and was a finalist for the 2017 First Nation Communities READ award. Her most recent picture book, Stolen Words, won the Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Children’s Book Award and was a finalist for the Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award. Her other books include Righting Canada’s Wrongs: Residential Schools and the teen novels Just Lucky, He Who Dreams, The Missing, One Night, and Rez Runaway. Visit her at https://www.melanieflorence.com/.
Melanie Florence's profile page
HAWLII PICHETTE, une artiste et une illustratrice urbaine de la communauté Mushkego Cree (Traité n° 9), vient d’une famille multiethnique. Née et élevée dans la petite communauté de Cochrane, en Ontario, elle est profondément influencée par sa culture, son éducation et le monde naturel. Elle vit à London, en Ontario.
HAWLII PICHETTE is a Mushkego Cree (Treaty 9) urban mixed-blood artist and illustrator. Born and raised in the small community of Cochrane, Ontario, she is deeply influenced by her culture, her upbringing and the natural world. She lives in London, Ontario.
Editorial Reviews
Ideal for young children, Benjamin's Thunderstorm, a graphically, linguistically (Cree and English) and lyrically rich narrative, is a winning piece of contemporary realistic fiction...—CM Magazine (Praise for Benjamin's Thunderstorm)
Presented in a lovely picture book format, the story of young Benjamin and his love of nature is a wonderful tale well told.—Children's Literature (Praise for Benjamin's Thunderstorm)
Other titles by
Les pensionnats indiens
Effets dévastateurs sur les peuples autochtones du Canada et appels à l’action de la Commission de vérité et réconciliation
Benjamin, au rythme du tonnerre
Missing Nimâmâ
Righting Canada's Wrongs Indigenous Studies Set
Lo Simpson Starts a Revolution
The Other Side of Perfect
Kaiah’s Garden
Le jardin de Kaiah
Benjamin's Thunderstorm
Righting Canada's Wrongs 10 volume set
10 volume set + free resource guide
Other titles by
Kohkum's Royal Bannock
Mother Earth
My Favourite Artist
Mother Earth: My Favourite Artist Teacher Lesson Plan
It’s Powwow Time!
Ma petite Ogichidaa
une berceuse autochtone
Benjamin, au rythme du tonnerre
My Little Ogichidaa
An Indigenous Lullaby
My Little Ogichidaa Teacher Lesson Plan