Riding The Train To Literacy
Kiwanis Club Donates $20,000 For Reading Railroad Project
Last updated Saturday, May 31, 2008 7:58 PM CDT in Our Town
By Marla Hinkle
THE MORNING NEWS
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FAYETTEVILLE - Children sit under the arbor, paying rapt attention to Annee Littell read to them about growing food. Every Wednesday, children and parents are invited to attend Little Sprouts Garden Time at the Botanical Garden of the Ozarks in Fayetteville.
Already the organization has planted the seeds of literature to inspire children to read books and cultivate an interest in gardening. The Fayetteville Noon Kiwanis Club has contributed to this goal by donating $10,000 to help build a Reading Railroad.
Another $10,000 will be given by the club, said its president, Candy Erbe.
"We learned about the idea about a year ago. Our club was looking to support a project around Fayetteville, and we thought this was a worthy cause," Erbe said.
Gail Pianalto, member of the board of directors and volunteer with the Botanical Garden of the Ozarks, envisioned the concept.
"I was trying to think of a good idea to do outside of the Children's Garden to introduce children to literacy and nature."
Pianalto said she was inspired by a speaker at a symposium in Atlanta to implement a literary aspect to the Children's Garden at the Botanical Garden of the Ozarks.
On July 25, Pianalto and Joyce Mendenhall, a Botanical Garden member and master gardener, will speak at The American Horticultural Society's 16th annual National Children & Youth Garden Symposium held in the greater Philadelphia area.
The topic will be "Cultivating the Garden in a Child's Mind."
"It's so important to get the children reading, and outside is even better."
The Reading Railroad will contain plants that are mentioned in children's literature, with a quote from the book near the plant. For example, a Willow tree will be called a "virtual Whomping Willow" as mentioned in Harry Potter books, and a chamomile plant will be identified with a Peter Rabbit reference.
"Kiwanians have been very generous in donating books," Pianalto said.
The outdoor reading area will feature a vegetated tunnel, and bamboo or vines inside the tunnel.
"This will give it an air of mystery as children enter the garden," said Sarah King, director of community programs at the botanical garden.
Plans are for an engine and two cars as part of the concrete train sculpture that will appear like it is moving through mountainous areas with a berm and stream.
"There may be a water feature ... we're still in the planning phase," King said.
Dirt work on the project will begin this month, said Scott Starr, director of operations at the gardens.
A grand opening is set for September.
For now, a sign in the Children's Garden that was handpainted by children in the Kidcare program announces the garden's arrival to guests.
Littell, a former teacher, volunteers with the Botanical Garden. She read from "Growing Vegetable Soup" by Lois Ehlert to about 10 children and their mothers during a May 14 gathering at the Rotary Peace Arbor.
"What is this vegetable?" Littell asked the crowd.
"A tomato!" several children shouted.
"Just like humans, plants need water." Littell continued to read. Each child was given a Fava bean seed to plant.
"Maybe the beans you plant will grow into giant beans, like 'Jack and the Beanstalk.'"
A tour of the Vegetable & Herb Garden and Chicken Coop was given. Some children clutched their cupfuls of dirt and gingerly pressed their fingers on top of the seed.
"This program gets a good response," Littell said. "We plan on continuing it through the summer and fall."
She explained that not all programs are centered around a storytime. For variety, songs, games, hands-on gardening and craft activities take place. For example, volunteer Ashley Blair recently led a Little Sprouts program on butterflies. Children got involved by finger-painting caterpillars.
Gail Halleck and her daughter, Rachel Arnold, were first-time attendees to a Little Sprouts gathering. Halleck is a member of the Botanical Garden Society.
"This is great," Halleck said.
She has implemented several ideas from the Botanical Garden at her Fayetteville home. Her daughter has a caterpillar garden and a Sunflower House. The sunflowers are placed around a structure in the shape of a house.
Nichelle Wilson-Parish of Fayetteville brought her daughter, Bronwin, and two of her friends' children to the Little Sprouts group.
"I come here for every story time. My daughter loves to grow things."
Parish said the family maintains a vegetable garden at home, with a Native American combination of corn, beans and squash. They also grow tomatoes, peppers and marigolds.
"Can we go home and plant it in our garden?" Bronwin asked, holding her new Fava bean seed.
GO & DO
Little Sprouts Garden Time
10 a.m. every Wednesday (weather permitting) at Botanical Garden of the Ozarks in Fayetteville
Information: 750-2620, bgozarks.org
Admission is $5 for adults and free for children under 5.
Source: Botanical Garden of the Ozarks
AT A GLANCE
The Fayetteville Noon Kiwanis Club has purchased books that are part of a recommended reading list from the Growing Good Kids Excellence in Children's Literature book awards program.
The Junior Master Gardener Program and the American Horticultural Society honor the best of the best in children's garden fiction. These Growing Good Kids Book Awards classics represent the top 40 books of the last 100 years.
Here are a few titles from the awards list:
• "The Carrot Seed" by Ruth Krauss, Crockett Johnson. Despite everyone's dire predictions, a little boy has faith in the carrot seed he plants.
• "The Tale of Peter Rabbit" by Beatrix Potter. Peter disobeys his mother by going into Mr. McGregor's garden and almost gets caught.
• "Mrs. Spitzer's Garden" by Edith Pattou, Mary Beth Owens. With her sure, loving, gardener's touch, Mrs. Spitzer nurtures the students in her classroom each year.
• "Brother Eagle, Sister Sky" by Susan Jeffers. A Suquamish Indian chief describes his people's respect and love for the earth, and concern for its destruction.
• "Linnea in Monet's Garden" by Christina Bjork, Lena Anderson. A little girl visits the home and garden of Claude Monet at Giverny, France, and learns about the artist's paintings and his life. The illustrations include photographs of the painter and his family as well as examples of his work.
• "Oliver's Vegetables" by Vivian French. While visiting his grandfather, who has a wonderful garden, Oliver learns to eat vegetables other than potatoes.
• "Lily's Garden" by Deborah Kogan Ray. A young girl in Maine and her grandmother in California exchange letters and packages which reflect cycles of planting and harvesting in their different climates.
• "Sunflower House" by Eve Bunting, Kathryn Hewitt. A young boy creates a summer playhouse by planting sunflowers and saves the seeds to make another house the next year.
• "The Secret Garden" by Frances Hodgson Burnett, Mary Collier. Ten-year-old Mary comes to live in a lonely house on the Yorkshire moors and discovers an invalid cousin and the mysteries of a locked garden.
• "The Ugly Vegetables" by Grace Lin. A little girl thinks her mother's garden is the ugliest in the neighborhood until she discovers that flowers might look and smell pretty but Chinese vegetable soup smells best of all. Includes a recipe.
• "How Groundhog's Garden Grew" by Lynne Cherry. Squirrel teaches Little Groundhog how to plant and tend a vegetable garden.
• "The Shaman's Apprentice" by Lynne Cherry, Mark J. Plotkin. Kamanya believes in the shaman's wisdom about the healing properties of plants found in the Amazon rain forest and hopes one day to be a healer for his people.
• "Inch by Inch: A Garden Song" by David Mallett. Inch by inch, row by row, a child grows a garden with the help of the rain and the earth. Based on a popular folksong.
• "The Giving Tree" By Shel Silverstein. A young boy grows to manhood and old age experiencing the love and generosity of a tree which gives to him without thought of return.
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