On Meadowview Street

When Caroline and her family move into their new house on Meadowview Street - a typical suburban subdivision, where all the properties look alike - and set about putting everything in order, the young girl asks her father to mow around the pretty flower growing in the middle of their lawn. Setting up a mini "wildflower preserve," she watches as the less groomed part of the yard begins to grow, with flowers of all kind springing up, and birds and butterflies beginning to gather. Soon her parents get in on the act, helping her plant a tree for shade, and make a birdhouse for the wren that has taken up residence. Eventually, there is indeed a meadow on Meadowview Street...

An engaging story that is sure to appeal to young gardeners and show more nature lovers everywhere, On Meadowview Street encourages readers to consider more creative solutions, when it comes to how to use the land around their houses. To consider making them more biologically diverse, more interesting, and more welcoming to wildlife, than the typical lawn could ever be. Henry Cole, whose artwork can be found in everything from And Tango Makes Three to Mouse Was Mad, creates an engaging visual and textual narrative here - so much so, that the reader will be wanting a meadow of their own, by the end! show less

Ordinary suburban family making a difference. I wonder, if I'd ever been a homeowner, if I would have had the courage. We renters have to do what the landlords say, though.

Caroline has moved into her new home, on the optimistically named "Meadowview Street". (There's no meadow, and not much view.)

However, she notices a wildflower in her yard and quickly makes a small wildflower preserve... which grows, and grows, eventually including trees and a pond. As it grows, it becomes attractive to wildlife, and her neighbors are all taken in and make their own meadows.

It's a pretty book, and the message isn't as anvilicious as it might be. You know what it reminds me off, oddly? Weslandia, about a boy whose summer project changes his classmates.

My daughter age 3 loves this book. What neighborhood association would ever allow this? It's a great story for nature lovers and haters of bland suburbia.

A story about bringing nature back into our lives. A young girl moves to a new house on Meadowview street, but there's no meadow there! The first day her dad mows the lawn, she notices a single flower and cords it off so he won't cut it down. Gradually, her "nature preserve" gets larger and larger until her yard is a paradise for all manner of birds, bugs, and blooms. A winner for Earth Day!

Caroline and her family move to Meadowview Street. Because all lawns are small and cookie cutter the same, Caroline found a flower in the lawn, and asked her father not to mow this lawn space. Soon, she found other flowers, this then led to the planting of a tree, and birdhouses adorned the limbs. Next, her father helped to dig a pond. Soon, many neighbors decided to do the same and thus Meadowview Street became known for its name.

Age Appropriateness: Primary
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Media: Mixed Media
Setting: The setting is important to the overall whole of this story because it is the setting that changes and develops throughout the story. The setting of the story is a home on Meadowview Street, and more specifically, a lawn on Meadowview Street. As the story progresses, the lawn develops and grows into a home for many plants and animals.
Review: This is a good example of realistic fiction because the story is not true but it could have actually happened in real life. A young girl and her parents move into a new home on Meadowview Street and slowly turn their front yard into a beautiful lawn.