This book was a surprise. I expected the same-old "plant a bean tipi, radishes grow quickly for near-instant gratification, etc." and opened this book to find a plethora of private gardens with playhouses, a huge variety of the most imaginative public gardens across America and a few overseas - a dinosaur garden in Michigan, a discovery garden in Brooklyn NY, and many more, and an up-close look at garden elements inviting to children from the fixed (gates, walls, berms, sand and earth) to plants (pickable flowers, berries, themed plantings, willow structures). And to my delight there was not only a section on the history of children's gardens and the importance of connecting with nature to start the book off, but a section on resources (including footnotes, a bibliography, lists of children's gardens, organizations, and designers) to finish it. This book is an absolute treasure and whether designing for our own grandchildren or for visitors to our farm garden, I am sure we'll be making extensive use of it in the future. ( )

backyards, children, children's gardens, garden design, gardening, landscape architecture, library landscaping, Nature Study, playgrounds,