We Are the Gardener

The fun, lovely way you incorporated teaching, life lessons, practical as well as personal, into this story, the illustrations. The encouragement to the young. The dedication at the beginning: "To our Dad: You have taught us that we can do hard things and to never give up, even when we fail." Well done Chip and Joanna! I've already bought a second book for a young farming family I know. Bless you!!!!

Adorable! Beautiful! Even my boys enjoyed it!

I just had to get this book due to the illustrations and they certainly didn't disappoint- this book is gorgeous. The story itself is so wholesome and has some very good teachable moments. I can't wait to start a garden one day and hopefully get my daughter involved. This book captures that spirit perfectly, and I hope one day it helps spark her curiosity in gardening. That being said, the delivery of the story isn't my favorite. The way it is written seems like a child's school project. As a result my daughter doesn't seem as interested in it either. However, that aspect might be nice to give some variety into her book collection. Overall I recommend it due to the wholesome spirit of it and the beautiful artwork.

I am always hunting for an addition to expand the love affair with books that my family and I share. From board books to to ancient classics that require waders to get through, we just love a great book. (In fact, my three teenagers took it upon themselves to refresh our bookshelves for Christmas by replacing their old favorites that had been lost in our move or had simply worn-out, so that their younger sibs (18months-11 years) didn't miss out. (For anyone who is interested in some kids' opinions on must-needs for the family library, those included Treasure Island, Dr. Doolittle, the new Mysterious Benedict Society title (-can't remember the title, but picked for love of the series), Jack Prelutsky's Little Peep, Bear Snores On, and an old out-of-print Louisa May Alcott work, Jack and Jill, which was the only hole in my daughter's collection of Alcott).My point is, we LOVE a great book of any level. But this is not one. While the simple and quaint water-color illustrations are charming and colorful, there is not really anything else to say about it. There is nothing overtly wrong with it, but I don't feel it deserves anything like the accolades it receives here, which were what prompted me to purchase it, and be subsequently disappointed. It reads like a cute little home-school English project to be shared with the grandparents and the co-op, but not a standard on which to spend the money and trees. I might check it out of the library when teaching a write-your-own-book unit to my students to show kids how simple an idea can be -"See? These kids just used their experience planting their garden as a story. I bet you have done lots of things this year that could become a story!" But then I wouldn't expect their books to be published, because there is just far more to a good children's book than a hint at basic narrative and simple pictures. Elegance in simplicity and substance in the telling are currencies not lost on children, even if they cannot articulate what they appreciate or reproduce it. But at the very least, in a book like this one, a cleaner rendering of the rather clumsily-presented "Don't give up" theme might have honed the crude-and-hard-to-grasp point of printing this 'story'.I would add, because some reviews suggest that this book is an educational tool, it is NOTHING of the sort (unless you want to highlight the illustrations for artistic discussion). I didn't think I was buying a step-by-step science book, but I was hopeful, based on the reviews, that it would contain some helpful information tucked in here and there. (I didn't buy it for that, but it would have been easy to make the book far more educational than it was). Other than some simple inclusions like, insects pollinated their plants or ladybugs ate aphids (-k-1st grade knowledge much more creatively taught in books like Eric Carle's board books), there was nothing else to be gained, and that sort of info didn't really jive with age of the audience. (It's a picture book, but extensively worded for such. It's very hard to say to what age this book would appeal. I have them spread from preschool to college and it doesn't seem to fit anywhere. I would gauge the age to be 2nd-4th grade-ish, not so much for the writing, but for the concept. Too many words and unrelatable for the preschool set, too simplistic and cheesy for anyone much older (I love wholesome, butwholesome and cheesy aren't the same thing).This was one of several gardening-themed books I bought for Christmas this year, (both literary: R.L. Stevenson's "A Child's Garden of Verses", "Seeds and Trees", "Up in the Garden and Down in the Dirt", and some how-to books) to go with supplies for a fairy terrarium project. "We are the Gardeners" was my least favorite. As far as children's books, the best of the lot (besides R.L. Stevenson's classic poems, of course) was "Up in the Garden and down in the Dirt", which my husband felt had an elegance of expression and movement with which children's authors seldom bother, and I agree. It is a charming walk through a year in Grandma's garden.There is a lot of garbage being published out there and This book isn't that, by any means. It's just a little too homespun and childish (not to be confused with child-like, which is a great asset to a children's book) and uninteresting in both word and story (and my family loves gardening), to be worth the shelf space in my opinion.

Review Title: Joy of Family Gardening (review of We Are the Gardeners by Joanna Gaines and Kids)Reviewer: Janice S. Garey***** 5 StarsThis beautifully illustrated and delightfully told story of a family going through the ups and downs of learning to garden will inspire people of all ages to engage with plants. The family starts small scale with a potted fern from which they learn through failure to keep going on toward success by never giving up. Many life lessons are embedded in the story as the family pursues a beautiful and fruitful garden.Most people are familiar with the Gaines family from their Fixer Upper show. This book will be successful based on that platform alone, but the book has so much more to offer than just pure celebrity appeal. With my background as a homeschool and church preschool teacher, I can envision using this book as a starting point for many learning projects that expand upon the book contents, in both the physical and spiritual realms. Life lessons abound within the story put to words. The illustrations help with teaching preschoolers the names of veggies and flowers, colors, quantities, and a variety of ways the young can help in the garden.Children who are readers can enjoy the book at their learning level as they plan and anticipate good results from their efforts through multiple step processes. They will be thrilled with their own successfully planned and nurtured garden.I think the book could even be used in a nursing home/assisted living setting where there is a community garden in which family members help loved ones participate in growing flowers.I received a free ebook copy through NetGalley in exchange for reading and posting a review of the book. I am under no obligation to give a good review. I have since purchased a hard copy of this beautiful book for a friend. I think people at all levels and stages will benefit from this book's informative content and life lessons.

I bought this for my two granddaughters, ages 3 and 6, and they both just loved it. The story was very understandable for them and the pictures were adorable. Have been reading it over and over for a few days now. A keeper.

You know it’s a good book when your kids ages 6 through 15 all sit still enjoying listening to mama reading the book. It is written in a way that we felt like part of the story almost. A connection with the writer and of course we like Joanna and her family and what they stand for. We all learned something from this book and have read it several times already. It’s a very good book to have in any library but especially for young gardeners.

This book is stunning and a real treasure. My daughter and I spend a lot of time in our garden and I always tell her “we are Gardeners” so I knew I wanted this book as soon as I saw it. Everything about this book is wonderful, from the bounding to the content and illustrations. It is one we will treasure for a long time. Gardening is something that connects us together and I hope it will provide lots of memories to treasure. This book supports this family bonding while nurturing a garden together. There’s a lot of lessons throughout the book. The main one being not to give up if things don’t work but to embrace it and learn from the mistakes. It really does bring alive the excitement and magic of gardening. It also explores the wonder that is grown from one tiny seed and what creatures are the hero’s and villains in a garden. The passion of the author and her family really shows through the enchanting illustrations and pace of the book. My daughter and I echo this passion and I hope, like the authors family, it continues as she grows too. It would make a very special present for any gardener young or old. It will be a real pleasure to read it again and again and share dreams and memories of our own garden.

This is a good book but definitely aimed at older children. I've read this to our 3 yr old a few times and unfortunately he gets a little bored. Illustrations wonderful and general story line very informative yet written in a fictional way, but maybe more aimed at the older child. Didn't realise it was American when we ordered - American spelling Mom in the book. I guess this could be a bit confusing if you're in the UK and have a young reader....

I love Joanna Gaines and am just learning to garden. I thought this was a beginners garden book! It is for children, so I will keep it to read to my grandchild.

Absolutely gorgeous book. The most lovely story ❤ A firm favourite for both my nearly 4 year old daughter and I.

In our homeschool library and a new staple through those gardening months. My son and I sit by our garden often and he loves to find all of the plants we have in our garden when he finds them in the book. A great moral and the graphics are completely adorable. I sampled the book when I found a video on Instagram of Joanne reading the book aloud. My son watched and listened. I knew he would love it.