April 15th, 2009
7 – Read an inspiring book
We suggest Seedfolks, which is a great read-together story in short chapters, each in a different character voice. This sweet 69-page gem, which came out in the 1990s, still gets raves on Amazon as new readers discover this story of how a poor, challenged neighborhood filled with disparate (and some despondent) residents turned a vacant lot into an urban garden and symbol of hope.
Author Paul Fleischman, a Newbery award-winning writer (for Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices) cites his parents as the inspiration for Seedfolks. Both were inveterate gardeners who grew berries, plums, grapes, apricots and figs and tangerines at their Santa Monica home when Fleischman was growing up. Fleischman’s father, children’s book author and Newbery winner, Sid Fleischman (The Whipping Boy), used gardening as respite from work. His mother advocated for community gardening, helping war veterans to raise fruits and vegetables, a practical hobby that healed psychological wounds too.
In Seedfolks, Fleischman shares a similar vision of how a community garden – in this case built on a fictional lot in Cleveland – can foster healing, comfort and community. It is written from the point of view of 13 residents, each with unfulfilled needs and a yearning to connect. Seedfolks, a term which means ancestors, is aptly titled — this book is a perennial. (Suitable for 10 and up.)
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