FRÜHLING, FRÜHLING WIRD ES NUN BALD: German Children's Books for the Budding Gardener

It's officially Spring and with birds chirping, the first bushes starting to bloom and daffodils blowing, it is gardening time! Children often show strong interest in anything nature and love planting and seeding - my older son sure does! - though sometimes it can be a little trying to wait for the seeds to actually sprout and show. If your child is into gardening - or you want to introduce her or him to the cycle of life- here are some beautiful and hands-on books that work for indoor and outdoor gardeners of all ages!

Lars Klinting

KASIMIR PFLANZT WEISSE BOHNEN

Kasimir and his smaller friend Frippe discover that the plants on the window sill are all dried up, they need to be replaced. Should Kasimir plant something with white flowers? Or pink? When Frippe comes home shopping and the newly bought beans pour all over the floor, Kasimir has an idea: they will plant the beans! And grow beans! The very endearing, not too overfraught images in this modern classic, make this a perfect book even for very small children. My son loved and loves this book, I don't know how often we read it - and every spring he asks to plant some beans, just like Kasimir.

2,5 years and up

Gerda Müller

WAS WÄCHST DENN DA?

Sophie usually lives in the city and knows vegetables from the supermarket - but during school breaks, she stays with her grandparents who have a big garden and are avid gardeners. Her grandfather gets her a set of children's garden tools and tools and dedicates a little patch for vegetables to grow herself, while she helps her grandparents too, and so she - and thus we -learns all about the various vegetable families, useful and not so useful insects and helpers. The illustrations in this picture book are truly stunning and there is lots to learn, even for adults..

5 years and up

Kirsten Bradley

GRÜNER WIRD'S NICHT. DAS BUCH FÜR KLEINE GÄRTNER

Kirsten Bradley teaches farming and sustainable living to families in Australia - and in this how-to book children learn all about growing and planting. You don't need anything really to get started. A sweet potato, two tooth picks and a glas of water and soon enough you'll see sprouts! You can also make pots out of newspapers (if you still read them on paper, easy peasy too), or how to make seed bombs, insects hotels.. and much much more!

5 years and up

Annelie Johansson

PLANZ MAL WAS!

Another hands-on book that offers also some general facts for the curious scientist is this beautiful book. What are seeds? How to you differentiate them? What happens with plants during the winter? The author runs a garden for children in Sweden, so she knows what she is talking about and what kids are into. The instructions are all well structured and easy too follow.

4 years and up

Christina Björk

LINNEA UND DIE SCHNELLSTE BOHNE DER STADT

Linnea loves everything green that grows. She is also a city girl, so all her planting is done in pots on her window sill. She plants pits from lemons, beans, anything from the kitchen really and and with her we learn different needs of different plans and how photosynthesis works.

This award-winning book is a classic from the early 80ies - I had a copy has a kid and remember it well (and my own trials and errors growing avocado or beans). 30 years and more it is still in print - and loved by kids.

8 years and up