Description
Product Description
The popular Bloomers Island! gardening kits and online world blossom in a playful, beautifully illustrated new book aimed at getting kids to love everything about nature.
Join the Bloomers on a whimsical adventure as they attend a magical boarding school on Bloomers Island. As Pete Moss, Rosey Posey, Big Red, Violet, and their friends prepare for the Great Garden Party, they learn about gardening, healthy eating, and caring for the environment. The treehouse school is held by the arms of Mr. Banyan, a tree about to celebrate his 200th birthday. His birthday party is filled with fun games that teach the curious students that gardening is not at all boring or hard—that it’s actually really fun!
From the Author
After working with thousands of children in our school gardening programs, I observed that over 90% of the students will eat a vegetable if they've grown it - even children who had never eaten a vegetable! I learned three important things about gardening with children: 1. It had to be fun for the kids, or they wouldn't do it; 2. It had to be easy for the grownups, or they wouldn't do it; and 3. There had to be some mystery involved so everyone would
want to do it. The Bloomers' gardening products took care of 1 and 2 pretty easily. But, how did I put the mystery into it? Simple, I created the Bloomers who lived on a mythical island, deep in the South Pacific so far away that human had ever set sight on it.
"A long time ago, a magical island formed where natural things came to life. Plants, trees, and flowers learned to move in order to find what they needed: better soil, more water, and brighter sunlight. They learned to talk, laugh, and make friends. They also learned how to read and tell stores. These curious creatures became known as Bloomers."
When I introduced the Bloomers, the children I worked with, became enthralled with their story. Soon, it wasn't me teaching them, it was Professor Sage and the Bloomers. I wanted to publish a book because I knew, of course, that I could reach many more parents, teachers and children that way. After several years, I was approached by a publisher, Rodale Kids, and my first Bloomers Island book was published. The story, The Great Garden Party, was inspired by my experience where I learned that if the students were having fun, they didn't even realize they were learning.
From the Inside Flap
Join the Bloomers on a whimsical adventure as they attend a magical boarding school on Bloomers Island. As Pete Moss, Rosey Posey, Big Red, Violet, and their friends prepare for the Great Garden Party, they learn about gardening, healthy eating, and caring for the environment.
From the Back Cover
Welcome to Bloomers Island - a magical world of gardening! Collect an entire garden of adventures with Pete Moss and the Super Strong Spinach; Rosey Posey and the Perfectly Pink Radish; Big Red and the Terrible Tomato Hornworms; and Violet and the Eggplant Painting Problem.
About the Author
Cynthia Wylie grew up on a farm, where she developed her love for all things green. Along with inventing unique gardening products, she has taught thousands of children how to garden. She has also raised four vegetable-eating children of her own in Venice, California.
Courtney Carbone is a children’s book writer in New York City. She enjoys spending time in botanical gardens and farmers’ markets, as well as planting her own garden. She especially loves lemons, avocados, and dahlia flowers.
Katya Longhi is a children’s book illustrator for publishers across Italy, Australia, the United States, France, and Brazil. In addition to collecting picture books and snow globes, she loves unicorns and anything magical. She lives in Italy with her husband and can be found online at katyalonghi.com.