“Wonder and delight are in joyful evidence” Boston Globe New England Literary News
So excited to see this lovely preview of How to Say Hello to a Worm in the Boston Sunday Globe Arts Section’s New England Literary News. Thank you Nina MacLaughlin! Read the full text below:
“Author, illustrator, and environmental educator Kari Percival founded the Early Birds’ Garden Club at her community garden near Boston, learning with kids and parents about what happens when you plant something in the dirt. The experience inspired her lovely new children’s book, “How to Say Hello to a Worm: A First Guide to Outside” (Rise x Penguin Workshop). The book celebrates the act of gardening, of tucking the peas in, giving them a drink, saying hello to ladybugs, bees, and worms, and she raises important questions: “How do you make mud? Dig a path for the water to go. Make a river. Flood it! Mix, mix, mix. Mmmmmm! Mud!” Wonder and delight are in joyful evidence in each earthy illustration as Percival demonstrates the patience and thrill involved with putting a seed into soil, tending it, watching it grow, and then putting what’s grown into your mouth, be it carrot, strawberry, or pea. A section for adults at the end helps answer the question, why garden with toddlers, where Percival makes a convincing case for young kids learning about and reveling in the connections between sun, air, seasons, food, our bodies, and our communities. “Look at all we’ve grown!,” Percival writes, with the kids holding the bounty of their harvest. “Has anything ever tasted so sweet?”