Gift Guide: Garden Books

Looking for gifts for the young gardeners on your list? Or maybe adding to your own garden book collection? Here are thirteen books that we think anyone would love to receive.

Scroll down to the bottom to enter our giveaway! We'll pick three folks at random to win a copy of the book they want most! We'll pick a winner on Tuesday, December 20, at 4pm Eastern, so enter by then! One entry per person, please. This giveaway is now closed. Congratulations to the winners: Megan, Kelly, and Susan!

Picture Books

The cover of the book Wonder Walkers

Wonder Walkers

by Micha Archer

Also available in Spanish!

When two curious kids embark on a "wonder walk," they let their imaginations soar as they look at the world in a whole new light.

Awards: Caldecott Honor Award, Golden Kite Award for Picture Book Illustration

Learn more about Wonder Walkers.

Author instagram: @MichaArcherArt

The cover of the book If You Plant a Seed, which shows a bunny.

If You Plant a Seed

by Kadir Nelson

Also available in French!

If you plant a carrot seed, a carrot will grow. If you plant a cabbage seed, cabbage will grow. But what happens if you plant a seed of kindness or selfishness?

Nominations: NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work - Children's, Goodreads Choice Awards Best Picture Books

Read more about If You Plant a Seed.

Author instagram: @KadirNelson

The cover of the book Goodnight Veggies, which shows purple beets and a worm.

Goodnight Veggies

by Diana Murray

Also available in Spanish!

Every veggie needs their shut-eye in this bedtime book that celebrates community, the joys of a small garden, and the importance of taking care of ourselves.

Read more about Goodnight Veggies

Author Instagram: @dianamurrayauthor

The cover of the book Before We Eat: From Farm to Table, with a drawing of 4 people harvesting food

Before We Eat: From Farm to Table (2nd Edition)

by Pat Brisson

Before we eat, many people work very hard—planting grain, catching fish, tending farm animals, and filling crates of vegetables. This expanded edition includes back-of-book features about school gardens and the national farm-to-school movement.

Read more about Before We Eat: From Farm to Table

Awards: Moonbeam Gold Award, Growing Good Kids Award for Excellence in Children’s Literature

The cover of the book Thank You Garden which shows people working in a garden.

Thank You, Garden

by Liz Garton Scanlon

A community garden unites children and neighbors in this celebration of all the things that grow there, from flowers and fruits to friendships.

Read more about Thank You, Garden

Awards: Moonbeam Gold Award, Growing Good Kids Award for Excellence in Children’s Literature

Author’s Instagram: @lizgardensalad

The cover of the book I Love Strawberries, which shows a child with glasses looking at a pink book while a bunny hovers over their shoulder

I Love Strawberries!

by Shannon Anderson

Jolie LOVES strawberries - and she's on an unstoppable (and hilarious) mission to grow her own food from seedling to table in this colorful introduction to the joy of growing the popular perennial.

Read more about I Love Strawberries!

Author’s Instagram: @shannonisteaching

The cover of the book Uncle John's City Garden which shows people in a garden with city buildings behind them.

Uncle John's City Garden

by Bernette G. Ford

How does this city garden grow? With help from L’il Sissy and her siblings--and love, love, love! It’s the magic of nature in the heart of the city.

Read more about Uncle John's City Garden

Accolades: A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection

The cover of the book Behold Our Magical Garden

Behold Our Magical Garden: Poems Fresh from a School Garden

by Allan Wolf

There’s a lot more to gardens than meets the eye! In this collection of buoyant poems filled with fun facts, young nature enthusiasts and budding gardeners are called on to help solve a mystery by the compost bin, join a Wild West–style standoff between some good bugs and a few bad ones, interview the sun to find out what happens when it drinks a glass of water, and more.

Read more about Our Magical Garden

Author’s Instagram: @allanwolf100

The cover of the book Our School Garden! A child sits on the edge of a raised bed.

Our School Garden!

by Rick Swann

New city. New school. Michael is feeling all alone—until he discovers the school garden! There’re so many ways to learn, and so much work to do. Each season creates a new way to learn, explore, discover and make friends.

Read more about Our School Garden!

Awards: Growing Good Kids Award for Excellence in Children’s Literature

The cover of the book Our School Garden! A child sits on the edge of a raised bed.

Up in the Garden and Down in the Dirt

by Kate Messner

Up in the garden, the world is full of green—leaves and sprouts, growing vegetables, ripening fruit. But down in the dirt there is a busy world of earthworms digging, snakes hunting, skunks burrowing, and all the other animals that make a garden their home.

Read more about Up in the Garden and Down in the Dirt

Author's Instagram: @katemessner

Chapter Books

The cover of Braiding Sweetgrass for Young Adults, which shows 2 hands braiding grass.

Braiding Sweetgrass for Young Adults

by Robin Wall Kimmerer, Adapted by Monique Gray Smith

Adapted for young adults by Monique Gray Smith, this new edition of Indigenous scientist and botanist Robin Wall Kimmerer’s best-selling book reinforces how wider ecological understanding stems from listening to the earth’s oldest teachers: the plants around us. With informative sidebars, reflection questions, and art from illustrator Nicole Neidhardt, Braiding Sweetgrass for Young Adults brings Indigenous wisdom, scientific knowledge, and the lessons of plant life to a new generation.

Read more about Braiding Sweetgrass for Young Adults

Author's Instagram: @moniquegraysmith

The cover of the book The Year Money Grew on Trees

The Year Money Grew on Trees

by Aaron Hawkins

With frostbitten fingers, sleepless nights, and sore muscles, fourteen-year-old Jackson Jones and his posse of cousins discover the lost art of winging it when they take over an orchard of three hundred wild apple trees. They know nothing about pruning or irrigation or pest control, but if they are to avoid losing the $8,000 they owe on an unfair contract with their neighbor, Mrs. Nelson, they just have to figure it out.

Read more about The Year Money Grew on Trees

The cover of the graphic novel The Secret Garden on 81st Street, which shows three teens through a keyhole with vines growing around it.

The Secret Garden on 81st Street

by Ivy Noelle Weir 

Mary Lennox is a loner living in Silicon Valley. When her parents pass away in a tragic accident, she moves to New York City to live with her uncle who she barely knows. Looking for comfort in this strange, new reality, Mary discovers an abandoned rooftop garden and an even bigger secret...her cousin who suffers from anxiety. With the help of her new friends, Colin and Dickon, Mary works to restore the garden to its former glory while also learning to grieve, build real friendships, and grow.

Read more about The Secret Garden on 81st Street

Author's Instagram: @IvyNoelle

Developing innovative irrigation solutions that benefit the planet is a driving force at Hunter Industries. The company offers a complete spectrum of water- and energy-efficient solutions for residential, commercial, golf course, and agricultural irrigation systems in over 120 countries. To further promote sustainability, Hunter is proud to partner with organizations like KidsGardening that encourage the growth of green spaces while seeking ways to responsibly support the environment. Learn more at hunterirrigation.com.