Lois Ehlerts's Growing Garden
(HMH $14.99 Score:)

For the growing season this set of three handsome picture books may well inspire a new crop of young gardeners. These are all reissued in a smaller paperback format that retains the artful look of the originals. Eating the Alphabet is an alphabet book of fruits and veggies. Growing Vegetable Soup is a treasure of artful veggies with a recipe for making soup. Planting a Rainbow is a color concept book with more than 20 different kinds of flowers. The gift package comes with a poster to hang in the kitchen or a child's room.

Age: Preschool, Early School Years. Award Year: 2013. Click here to purchase the product on Amazon.com.

Ready Set Grow!
(Sonia Whillock-Moore, et al, DK $12.99 Score:)

This is the kind of book we would bring home in anticipation of summer vacation and dreams of growing things filled our heads. Although we seldom got around to all the projects, this kind of outdoor project book is fun to pick and choose from or dream on. With 30 projects this handsome book is full of photographs and simple ways to recycle containers into planters and grow plants in a yard or on a terrace. Learn how to make a wick fed starter container with a soda bottle, small quantities of compost, grow a fairy circle or floral tepee, or if you are really ambitious make an enchanted path of concrete leaves for stepping stones. An inspiring book of ideas for kids and parents to share while planning and actively doing. 7 -12.

Age: Early School Years, Later School Years. Award Year: 2010. Click here to purchase the product on Amazon.com.

The Curious Garden
(by Peter Brown, Little Brown $16.99 Score:)

In a way, this little story about a boy who finds wild flowers growing in a remote place in a grey city, is reminiscent of the new High Line Park in Manhattan, built on the old railroad yards. This unlikely story speaks to the idea that one person, even a small person, can make a difference. Of course, this picture book is a fantasy, but who knows what it may inspire.

Age: Early School Years. Award Year: 2009. Click here to purchase the product on Amazon.com.

Dot and Jabber and the Great Acorn Mystery
(by Ellen Stoll Walsh, Harcourt $15 Score:) Two mouse detectives figure out how an acorn gets from one end of the meadow to another. In this early science book Walsh blends fact and fancy in text and torn paper collages.

Age: Preschool,Early School Years. Award Year: 2002.

Red Are the Apples
(by Marc Harshman and CHeryl Ryan/ illus. by Wade Z, Harcourt $16 Score:) A celebration of the bounty of colors and good things found in a fall garden. Zahares's exuberant palette goes beyond the usual providing something of a stretch for the picture-book set. 3-7. For a charming but strictly apples book, Apple Farmer Annie (by Monica Wellington, Dutton $14.99) 3 & up.

Age: Preschool,Early School Years. Award Year: 2002.

The Gardening Book
(by Jane Bull, DK $12.99 Score:) There are many planting projects here that can be done on a windowsill or in a pot on a patio if a garden is not a possibility. In fact, many of the projects here can be started before the ground is ready to be turned out of doors. Fun projects for parent & child to share. 6 & up.

Age: Early School Years. Award Year: 2004.

Pie in the Sky
(by Lois Ehlert, Harcourt $16.99 Score:) Starting with the somber brown tones of early spring a child looks for evidence that the tree in the yard is what Dad calls a “Pie Tree”. The text invites children to search for lists of bugs, bark, and other natural items that are easily found in the stunning paper-cut collages that are Lois Ehlert’s trademark. No pie is found, but as the season changes the artist’s palette bursts forth with blossoms, birds, butterflies, and a bright red cherry feast that lights up the pages! It’s berry-luscious! One of Ehlert’s very best! 3 & up.

Age: Preschool,Early School Years. Award Year: 2004.