On Meadowview Street

by Henry Cole, Henry Cole (Illustrator)

Overview

The perfect book for everyone who loves nature! On Meadowview Street celebrates the environment, ecosystems—and individual empowerment. 

Caroline moves to a new suburban house. The yard, like all the surrounding yards, is plain, boring grass. But then she discovers a wildflower. Soon she’s got her own little wildflower preserve, carefully protected from Dad’s lawn mower. She adds a tree . . . a pond . . . birdhouses . . .she’s brought a meadow to Meadowview Street! 

Time brings more little meadows, as the neighbors see how beautiful and alive a yard can be. An ideal choice for classroom reading and sharing and for inspiring the creation of green corridors—safe havens for migrating birds and butterflies—at home. For fans of Peter Brown's The Curious Garden, Joanna Gaines's We Are the Gardeners, and Christie Matheson's Tap the Magic Tree.

“This lovely picture book offers children a quiet approach to embracing the natural world.”—School Library Journal, starred review 

“Gentle persuasion for the naturalist in everyone.”—Kirkus Reviews

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780060564810
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	04/24/2007
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	9.00(w) x 11.00(h) x 0.25(d)
Lexile:	560L (what's this?)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Henry Cole was a celebrated science teacher for many years before turning his talents to children’s books. He has worked on nearly one hundred and fifty books for children, including Unspoken, Big Bug, A Nest for Celeste, Jack’s Garden, and On Meadowview Street. Henry loves being outside, where he can sketch and write. His favorite sound is the first robin song of the spring. You can visit him online at www.henrycole.net.

Henry Cole was a celebrated science teacher for many years before turning his talents to children’s books. He has worked on nearly one hundred and fifty books for children, including Unspoken, Big Bug, A Nest for Celeste, Jack’s Garden, and On Meadowview Street. Henry loves being outside, where he can sketch and write. His favorite sound is the first robin song of the spring. You can visit him online at www.henrycole.net.

Editorial Reviews

The front lawn of Caroline's new home is like all the others in her cookie-cutter subdivision-it's a simple, sterile patch of green that falls far short of the "Meadowview" that her street name promises. But after she saves the yard's single wildflower from her father's lawnmower, Caroline is inspired to turn her lawn into a tiny nature preserve. Mom agrees to buy a maple tree, Dad is only too willing to sell the lawnmower and help his daughter build birdhouses and a pond and an idyllic habitat begins to take shape-one that inspires their neighbors. "And soon, the Jacksons' yard changed. And the Smiths'. And the Sotos'," writes Cole (On the Way to the Beach). "Now there really was a meadow on Meadowview Street." As a writer, Cole is almost reportorial in tone; he wisely chooses not to limn the depth of his heroine's emotional landscape, which could have turned his book into a sappy "kids-can-do-anything" story. But the growing lushness of the yard-beautifully portrayed in meticulously detailed, velvety acrylics-clues readers into Caroline's burgeoning sense of belonging and accomplishment. It's a lovely parable of suburban life. Ages 4-8. (May)

Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information

Publishers Weekly

K-Gr 2
Caroline and her family have recently moved to Meadowview Street, in a development where all of the properties look alike and there's not a meadow in sight. The girl is about to go in search of one when she notices a small flower. "It's beautiful! Caroline said to herself. And all alone." She asks her dad to work around it while mowing the lawn, hurries inside to find string and sticks, and builds a "small wildflower preserve." As other flowers bloom, she enlarges the area. Dad puts the lawn mower up for sale, and, with the help of her parents, Caroline (surely an heir to Barbara Cooney's Miss Rumphius) sets about transforming her suburban backyard into a teeming ecosystem. Soon there are butterflies, birds, a pond, flowers, trees, and a real meadow on Meadowview Street. "And soon, the Jacksons' yard changed. And the Smiths'. And the Sotos'." Cole's economical text and tender, acrylic paintings tell the story with simplicity and energy as the barren strip of grass evolves into a lush habitat. This lovely picture book offers children a quiet approach to embracing the natural world.
—Kathleen WhalinCopyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

School Library Journal

While her father mows the lawn at her new house, Caroline wonders how it could actually reflect the street's name. Soon she finds a small blossom growing in the grass, then another, and eventually persuades Dad to sell the mower while the yard grows freely with wildflowers. Adding a maple tree and a man-made pond attracts an assortment of wildlife from birds, to insects, to a mud turtle and a meadow mouse. Neighbors are encouraged to follow suit, creating meadow environments rather than pristine lawns. Full-color acrylic paintings in double-paged spreads of multiple shades of green, dotted with hues of summer flowers, tell this nature-lover's story which suggests the possibility of chemical-free garden environments. Though the message will be missed by young children, most will enjoy a final rendering of all the meadow creatures next to their proper names that now live on Meadowview Street. Gentle persuasion for the naturalist in everyone. (Picture book. 4-6)

Kirkus Reviews