Plant a Pocket of Prairie - Hardcover

Root, Phyllis

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0816679800 ISBN 13: 9780816679805

Publisher: Univ Of Minnesota Press, 2014

Synopsis

Author Phyllis Root and illustrator Betsy Bowen last explored the vast, boggy peatlands of northern Minnesota in their book Big Belching Bog. Now, in Plant a Pocket of Prairie, Root and Bowen take young readers on a trip to another of Minnesota’s important ecosystems: the prairie.

Once covering almost 40 percent of the United States, native prairie is today one of the most endangered ecosystems in the world. Plant a Pocket of Prairie teaches children how changes in one part of the system affect every other part: when prairie plants are destroyed, the animals who eat those plants and live on or around them are harmed as well. Root shows what happens when we work to restore the prairies, encouraging readers to “plant a pocket of prairie” in their own backyards.

By growing native prairie plants, children can help re-create food and habitat for the many birds, butterflies, and other animals that depend on them. “Plant cup plants,” Root suggests. “A thirsty chickadee might come to drink from a tiny leaf pool. Plant goldenrod. A Great Plains toad might flick its tongue at goldenrod soldier beetles.” An easy explanation of the history of the prairie, its endangered status, and how to go about growing prairie plants follows, as well as brief descriptions of all the plants and animals mentioned in the story.

With Betsy Bowen’s beautiful, airy illustrations capturing the feel of an open prairie and all its inhabitants, readers of all ages will be inspired to start planting seeds and watching for the many fascinating animals their plants attract. What a marvelous transformation could take place if we all planted a pocket of prairie!

About this title

About the Author:

Phyllis Root is the author of more than forty books for children, including Ten Sleepy Sheep, One Duck Stuck, and Big Momma Makes the World, which won the Boston Globe Horn Book Award. She is also the author of Big Belching Bog (Minnesota, 2010), illustrated by Betsy Bowen. She lives in Minneapolis.
Betsy Bowen is the author and/or illustrator of numerous children’s books, including Great Wolf and the Good Woodsman (Minnesota, 2005); Antler, Bear, Canoe: A Northwoods Alphabet Year; and Big Belching Bog (Minnesota, 2010). She lives in Grand Marais, Minnesota.

From School Library Journal:

Gr 1–4—This exploration and imaginative re-creation of the prairie habitat that once covered almost 40 percent of the United States is much more than a mere gardening book. Double-page woodblocks on stark white backgrounds depict the habitat replaced by wheat farms and cattle ranches. The delicate colors belie the strength and importance of these grasses and flowers in creating a self-sustaining environment for animals and insects. Free verse poems invite readers to plant flowers and reconstruct pockets of lost prairie in backyards and on balconies to entice insects and birds to return, such as butterfly weed to attract monarch butterflies or rough blazing star for great spangled fritillaries. A map shows the once extensive prairie in Minnesota and the less than one percent now remaining, while the plant list will inspire the planting of at least some of the 14 recommended flowers and grasses. Perhaps all the seven prairie birds, nine butterflies and insects, four reptiles and amphibians listed and described will visit, and with a lot of luck, a bison or elk may just show up as well. A beautiful and informative offering that will be snapped up from any display.—Frances E. Millhouser, formerly at Fairfax County Public Library, VA

About this edition

• Publisher: Univ Of Minnesota Press
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 0816679800
• ISBN 13: 9780816679805
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 40
• Illustrator: Bowen Betsy