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by Jennifer Mills Barnes A special thank you to Jennifer Mills Barnes for giving me the opportunity to repost this article, originally published on Write2Ignite.  Photos provided by Jennifer Mills Barnes My last post featured books that impacted my kindergartners and prompted insightful experiences. (But) books also changed our world outside the classroom. The fenced area beyond our back door was originally designated a playground. Thankfully, children, parents, and school personnel advocated for a “Storybook Garden” instead. Why A Storybook Garden? What could be better than a children’s place featuring kids’ favorite books? Some of our purposes were to:
A partnership with parents, children, and Eagle Scout candidates, our Storybook Garden was like no other garden. The space featured knockout roses, “snowball trees” (viburnum), and Confederate Jessamine vines. All of that amid azaleas, verbena, and magnolias. Following are some books that influenced our garden appearance and changed our world. The Three Billy Goats Gruff, Janet Stevens Some children already knew this favorite first-day-of-school book. Others quickly picked up the rhythm. The first foundational area built into our garden was the “Three Billy Goats Gruff Bridge.” For extra fun, we placed an alligator sculpture at the base to represent our troll. Big daddies and baby goats tripped over the bridge as trolls below chanted, “Who’s that tripping over my bridge?” What kindergartner wouldn’t zip by that creature, tramp-tramp-tramping and squealing their lines? Make Way for Ducklings, Robert McCloskey McCloskey’s beautifully-illustrated classic of a mother duck relocating her baby ducks to the Boston Public Garden reminded students’ parents and grandparents of their childhood. The purchase of a stepping stone mold kit paved the way for a myriad of art projects. We pressed name stones for Jack, Kack, Lack, Mack, Nack, Ouack, Pack, Quack, and Mother Duck into rectangular molds. Becky Watkins, our art teacher, spent time coaching us on creating clay ducks. This place also became a perfect area to practice alphabetical order as children stamped and ordered stones with their matching ducklings.
The Grouchy Ladybug, Eric Carle A ladybug house anchored this space, featuring one of Eric Carle’s books about a grumpy bug who thinks she’s bigger than anyone. We hid the ladybug house in our Confederate Jessamine vine. My teaching assistant helped children from the adjoining class form and paint ladybugs before adhering them to magic marker lids atop dowels. With plenty of plants (and aphids!), our ladybugs thrived. Charlotte’s Web, E. B. White Who could forget the impact of Charlotte the spider on her naïve friend, Wilbur? This magical tale of friendship taught us life lessons and powerful vocabulary. The children couldn’t wait to design word stones. After finding a cute pig sculpture and a spiderweb frame, children stamped words that Charlotte drafted into her webs: terrific, radiant, and humble. Then kindergartners’ families brainstormed to find adjectives describing them—like huggable, fixer, and advencherus. (Don’t you just love to see children’s spelling patterns valued and appreciated?) Our personality steppingstones graced borders throughout the garden  The Little House, Virginia Lee Burton Standing in the country, the little house watched the city creep her way. Burton’s book shows the positives and negatives of progress. To celebrate this story, the children expanded the little house’s world with a concrete road, stores, and churches. From their architecture study, they recalled columns, dormers, and façades while negotiating paint colors in their collaborative groups. We hung some of these creations. Others made their way onto this miniature road, created by an Eagle Scout candidate. Books Inspiring Our Own Yards Books changed our school and eventually our yards. Everyone wanted to recreate that Storybook Garden spirit in their own spots in the world. Whether you have a school or home garden, books might add beauty to your world, too. Perhaps you could highlight your own favorite books in your yard. Please share any of your literary garden ideas with us.  About Jennifer Jennifer Mills Barnes invested her life in children, teaching mostly kindergartners and first graders for three decades. She was blessed to coach 41 student-teachers and welcomed over 2000 visitors into her inquiry-based classroom. Jennifer had the privilege of speaking at more than 20 conferences and served as an adjunct professor for two semesters at the University of South Carolina. She garnered national and state awards while maintaining National Board certification. But Jennifer’s passion was authentically teaching little kids. These days, she feels called to write stories for children. As a retired teacher, she also captures her most powerful teaching moments to share with a new generation of children through helping their parents, grandparents, and teachers. The rest of the time, you can find her road-tripping with her husband, delighting in her garden, or hanging with her adult children and grandson, Tucker. Connect with her on Pinterest, Twitter, or her website, jennifermbarnes.com (where you can also sign up for her newsletter). Plus, check out the podcast “KidTalk” that was created with her first graders. Sign up for my newsletter to receive new reading adventures in your inbox, as well as writing prompts for kids, updates on my upcoming books, giveaways and more!
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