Anywhere Farm

by Phyllis Root, G. Brian Karas (Illustrator)

Overview

For any anywhere farm, here's all that you need: soil and sunshine, some water, a seed.

You might think a farm means fields, tractors, and a barnyard full of animals. But you can plant a farm anywhere you like! A box or a bucket, a boot or a pan — almost anything can be turned into a home for green, growing things. Windows, balconies, and front steps all make wonderful spots to start. Who knows what plants you may choose to grow and who will come to see your new garden? Phyllis Root delivers a modern rhyming mantra for anyone hoping to put their green thumbs to good use, while G. Brian Karas’s cheerful urban illustrations sprout from every page. After all, anywhere can be a farm — all it takes is one small seed and someone to plant it.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780763674991
Publisher:	Candlewick Press
Publication date:	03/14/2017
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	421,542
Product dimensions:	8.70(w) x 10.30(h) x 0.50(d)
Age Range:	2 - 5 Years

About the Author

Phyllis Root is the author of a wide range of picture books, including Creak! Said the Bed, illustrated by Regan Dunnick; One Duck Stuck, illustrated by Jane Chapman; and the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award winner Big Momma Makes the World, illustrated by Helen Oxenbury. Phyllis Root lives in Minneapolis.

G. Brian Karas has illustrated more than ninety children’s books, including Tap Tap Boom Boom by Elizabeth Bluemle and the Ant and Honey Bee series by Megan McDonald. He lives in New York’s Hudson Valley.

Editorial Reviews

12/19/2016
Even children who live in dense urban environments can become small-scale farmers; all they need, Root (One North Star) explains, is “soil and sunshine,/ some water, a seed.” A neglected alley is the setting several children choose to start their planting efforts, and Root’s upbeat verse offers playful guidance to readers, using questions (“Where can you plant your anywhere farm?”) and rhyming responses (“An old empty lot/ makes a good growing plot./ But a pan or a bucket,/ a pot or a shoe,/ a bin or a tin/ or a window will do.” Karas’s (A Hat for Mrs. Goldman) smudgy mixed-media art warmly shows a community coming together as citizens young and old join in, building to the unveiling of a neighborhood garden/market. It’s a cheery celebration of community and the hands-on joys of gardening. Ages 2–5. Illustrator’s agent: Brenda Bowen, Sanford J. Greenburger Associates. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

01/01/2017
PreS-Gr 1—"You can grow your own farm anywhere" is the empowering message of this inclusive picture book. All you need are soil, sun, water, and a seed. You can plant a farm in an empty lot, a pot, a box, or even a shoe. You can share your seeds with others to spread the food and fun. With cheerful rhyming text and illustrations depicting a diverse group of young farmers, including wheelchair users, this book is sure to find a place in group storytimes as well as in the laps of parents. The text is educational without being dry. Children will get a brief introduction to plants—what a seed needs to grow, what kinds of plants grow from seeds, and what kinds of creatures, such as butterflies and bees, visit them. The text addresses the five W's—who, what, when, where, and why—in a jaunty manner. The mixed-media illustrations include a satisfying amount of detail while retaining a child-friendly sketchiness. The neighborhood scenes add to the sense of community-building reinforced here. VERDICT This must-have picture book will be especially beneficial for school units on plants and seeds and for library storytimes with a spring or gardening theme.—Suzanne LaPierre, Fairfax County Public Library, VA

School Library Journal

2016-12-06
Several inner-city children work together to plant seeds and cultivate their own gardens, transforming their little "anywhere farms" into a lush, green community garden covering a vacant city lot. A pink-cheeked little girl in overalls receives a single seed from a helpful tan-skinned neighbor on the title page, and she then inspires a flurry of gardening in her neighborhood with children and adults of different ethnicities joining in, including a white boy who uses a wheelchair. The bouncy, rhyming text conveys the basic requirements of growing plants from seeds as well as suggesting a wide variety of unusual containers for growing plants. Several leading questions about the plant growth cycle are interspersed within the story, set in large type on full pages that show a seed gradually sprouting and growing into a huge sunflower on the final, wordless page. The joyful text makes growing flowers and vegetables seem easy, showing plants spilling out of alternative containers as well as more traditional raised beds and the concluding, large garden plot. The text focuses on the titular concept of an "anywhere farm," without differentiating between farms and gardens, but this conceit is part of the amusing, rollicking tone. Detailed, soft-focus illustrations in mixed media use an autumnal palette of muted green, peach, and tan that don't quite match the buoyant flavor of the cheerful text. This pleasant look at gardening in a city setting reflects a growing trend. (Picture book. 4-7)

Kirkus Reviews

You can grow your own farm anywhere” is the empowering message of this inclusive picture book...The neighborhood scenes add to the sense of community-building reinforced here. This picture book will be especially beneficial for school units on plants and seeds and for library storytimes with a spring or gardening theme.
—School Library Journal (starred review)

The text focuses on the titular concept of an "anywhere farm," without differentiating between farms and gardens, but this conceit is part of the amusing, rollicking tone. Detailed, soft-focus illustrations in mixed media use an autumnal palette of muted green, peach, and tan...This pleasant look at gardening in a city setting reflects a growing trend.
—Kirkus Reviews

Karas’s (A Hat for Mrs. Goldman) smudgy mixed-media art warmly shows a community coming together as citizens young and old join in, building to the unveiling of a neighborhood garden/market. It’s a cheery celebration of community and the hands-on joys of gardening.
—Publishers Weekly

This picture book beautifully blends effortless rhyming text with soft-hued mixed-media illustrations to encourage young gardeners to start growing something—anywhere...The ending suggests that all it takes is one farmer and one anywhere farm to encourage other gardeners—which just might result in a community everywhere farm. A great read-aloud for aspiring gardeners and farmers.
—Booklist

The diverse cast features a variety of skin colors as well as an infant-toting dad, a man in a wheelchair, and a bunch of pets; the group includes active children, old people content just to sit in a chair in the sunshine, and everyone in between. Inspiring and empowering; friendly and inviting.
—The Horn Book

Such a treasure is Phyllis Root...In her latest, told in kicky rhyme, she celebrates the simple joy of planting a seed anywhere and watching it grow.
—Star Tribune

This would be a nice read aloud to kick off a unit on seeds and plants, particularly in communities where green space is not common, and would be a fun book for budding gardeners everywhere.
—School Library Connection

From the Publisher