Books in Bloom

Have you read Chrysanthemum, Miss Rumphius, or Klara’s New World? The Books in Bloom garden will feature flowers that play an integral role in children’s books. The garden itself will be based on student research in children’s literature, in collaboration with Botany students in the Biology Department. In the beginning stages, Education students will identify and analyze books in which plants play a critical role. Plant availability and viability will also be studied, and then both Education and Botany students will begin the creation of the evolving garden. As part of their coursework and assignments for Teaching Reading and Language Arts, Children’s Literature, and student teaching, students will create field trips, lab work, and literacy projects to implement with local schools. This might expand, at some point, to include other groups from the community, such as senior groups or tourists, and may attract the interest and perhaps participation of those in the field of children’s literature.

Saint Michael’s College students, who double major in Education and another subject, will be challenged to integrate their knowledge from their other field as they are teaching reading and writing through garden experiences. For example, creating a fall field trip assignment to draw the growth of a chrysanthemum could require lessons on drawing texture (art) as well as analysis of the story and characters in Chrysanthemum (literature). A history major might explore immigration through Klara’s New World , as well as the role that Gentian seeds play.

The garden is a work in progress, but current students are beginning to develop text sets centered around plants and flowers in picture books, and suggestions for their use.

• Miss Rumphius, by Barbara Coone
  Klara’s New World, by Jeanne Winter
  Chrysanthemum, by Kevin Henkes