Growing Greens: Peppa Pig and the Vegetable Garden

"WHAT HAPPENS TO SEEDS, GRANDPA?"

"THEY GROW INTO PLANTS!"

Peppa Pig and her little brother George are playing at Grandpa and Granny Pig's house when they notice that Grandpa is pulling out some tools and digging in the grass. Curious, they come over and watch as Grandpa explains that he's digging a vegetable garden and that if they plant seeds and water and weed  them, they will soon have delicious vegetables to eat.

Dig and delve, dig and delve! Kids love to dig holes, and who better to dig a garden than a family of pigs! Mummy and Daddy arrive and get into the act, too, laying out rows.  Peppa specializes in dropping the seeds into the holes they dig, and George discovers that there are some creatures already living there--a wiggly worm, which the kids have to imitate, and a snail with stalky eyes and  what looks like a basket on his back!

"MON-STA!" CRIES GEORGE.

Peppa finishes planting the seeds and Grandpa points out that the butterflies will help make the plants grow well.   But Peppa is worried.  She doesn't see anything coming up. Grandpa laughs and tells her she needs something special to be a gardener--patience!  And when a flock of birds land in the garden and start pecking around, Granny points out something else they need right away--a scarecrow--and making and dressing one is just the job for George and Peppa!

For youngsters who aren't quite sure where fruits and vegetable come from before the supermarket, Peppa Pig and the Vegetable Garden (Candlewick Press, 2014) is a spring-y entry into the concept of garden-to-table for preschoolers. Simple, stylized illustrations show Peppa and George digging, seeding, picking berries for a pie, and even offer directions for using the various veggie shapes into a dino salad with cucumber halves for jaws, just for  the salad-averse George. For fans of Peppa's television series, this easy-going entry into family backyard gardening is a sweet springtime read for planting time.