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Summary
Summary
Best Children's Books of the Year 2013, Bank Street College
2013 Growing Good Kids - Excellence in Children's Literature Award
2013-2014 Macy's Multicultural Collection of Children's Literature
2012 Children's Agriculture Book of the Year, Nebraska Farm Bureau Federation
2016 Agriculture Book of the Year, American Farm Bureau Foundation
Maya loves contests, so she is excited when her teacher announces they will plant a school garden like Thomas Jefferson's garden at Monticello--and they'll have a "First Peas to the Table" contest, just like Jefferson and his neighbors had each spring. Maya plants her pea seeds with a secret head start--found in Jefferson's Garden Book--and keeps careful notes in her garden journal. But her friend Shakayla has plans of her own for the contest.
Author Notes
Susan Grigsby lives in St. Louis, MO. She teaches poetry writing in schools, gardens, and nature centers. With her husband and their youngest son, David, she tends a garden large enough to feed her family, share with the neighborhood, and satisfy roaming critters.When Nicole Tadgell was studying art in college, she realized illustrating children's books could be her life path. Nicole has illustrated fourteen books, including Lucky Beans by Becky Birtha and In the Garden with Dr. Carver, also by Susan Grigsby. To get a feel for each book, she pretends she's the child in the story, and does the things the child does. She lives in Spencer, Massachusetts, with her boys; husband, Mark; and border terrier, Boomer. www.nicoletadgell.com
Reviews (4)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 1-3-Shakayla and Maya learn that this year's class garden project will be a contest to see who can plant peas and bring in the first bowl of shelled peas. The contest originated with Thomas Jefferson among his fellow Virginia farmers, and both girls have great plans to win the competition. This beautifully illustrated story has a mixture of both fiction and facts about the life cycle of peas. Readers learn how the growing process has not really changed since Jefferson's day. Vivid watercolor artwork documents it, beginning with packets of seed and proceeding to planting, watering, staking, and the crowning of the contest winner. The vibrant front and back pages summarize the progress, and an afterword tells more about Jefferson's interest in agriculture. Teachers will find a multitude of ways to use this book and this team's In the Garden with Dr. Carver (Albert Whitman, 2010).-Janene Corbin, Rosebank Elementary School, Nashville, TN (c) Copyright 2012. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Horn Book Review
Just like Thomas Jefferson's friendly competition with his gentlemen farmer neighbors, Maya's class plants peas and has a First Peas to the Table contest. The amiable story line includes gardening troubles, such as a windstorm that knocks over some of the plants, but ends with the winner's bowl of peas served to the class. Realistic watercolor illustrations add plant details and touches of humor. Bib. (c) Copyright 2012. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
(Picture book. 6-10)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
When Maya first hears about the class project to plant a garden like Thomas Jefferson's, she is . . . well, uninspired. But after her teacher explains that Jefferson and his neighbors competed to see who would harvest the first peas each spring, she is ready to pit herself against her classmates in their own contest. The students plant a vegetable garden together, but each tends a small, separate pea patch. Despite some overwatering and high winds, the gardening project succeeds. Grigsby and Tadgell, who created In the Garden with Dr. Carver (2010), again combine history and gardening in a picture book with classroom potential. The first-person narrative relates events and Maya's changing perspective in a believably childlike voice, while the pencil-and-watercolor illustrations capture the story's tone as well as the characters' emotions. More fully documented than many nonfiction picture books, this volume concludes with an afterword about Jefferson, detailed source notes, and a related bibliography. An activity guide (not seen) will be provided online.--Phelan, Carolyn Copyright 2010 Booklist
