Fertile Minds

Kids and gardening, what a nice thing to contemplate. The little ones out there, helping with the watering and the weeding.

But what about 3-year-olds? That becomes more problematic. Mud everywhere, bean shoots up the nose, flowers soggy from over-watering.

Not to worry. This project starts with a story time at a Tarzana bookstore. Saturday morning at Pages Books for Children, a West Hills-based professional storyteller, Shari Sack, will provide kids ages 3 to 8 with what may be their first temptation to plant and tend flowers or veggies.

The event is entitled “How Does Your Garden Grow--Tales of Sowing and Growing.” The reading, which is free, will be followed by a related--and optional--crafts session. The theme will be flowers--making one’s own with paper and paint. There’s a $3 materials fee for the activity, which may be applied to a book purchase at Pages.

Folks from nearby communities have written and illustrated the two principal books featured in story time. “Sunflower House” and “Flower House” are children’s fiction by the distinguished Pasadena-based author Eve Bunting. Each has been illustrated by Kathryn Hewitt, a Santa Monica-based artist.

“Sunflower House,” which has become something of a standard work due to its inclusion on national school reading lists, is dedicated to Hewitt’s daughter Annelise and her brothers, John and Cody. “Annelise started gardening at 2,” Hewitt recounted. “Flowers at first, then veggies when she was 5 because it’s much more fun if kids can pick and eat [what they grow].”

In order to do the “Sunflower” illustrations, mother and 7-year-old daughter planted seeds in a circle near their apartment, “so we could have a model,” Hewitt said.

Actually, it’s only the mom who did the painting. She’s illustrated 25 books in her career. Daughter did the gardening, pouring on Miracle Grow, Mom recalled, to make the sunflowers grow faster so the illustrations could be finished on deadline.

Of Hewitt’s illustrations, Pages’ owner Darlene Daniel says: “They really lead children into and through the stories. She makes [story time visitors] feel as though they’ve lived the experience.”

Nowadays, the Hewitts still grow sunflowers, having learned firsthand that these plants are a good choice as a child’s first gardening project. All three of her kids helped and learned during the book experience.

“Sunflower plants,” Hewitt said, with no touch of irony in her voice, “are able to take a lot of neglect.”

“Inch by Inch, the Garden Song” by David Mallett will also be included in the story time, with Shari Sack using the opportunity to teach her young audience some of the traditional gardening songs included in the book.

The other story will be “The Surprise Garden” by Zoe Hall and, if there’s enough time, Sack will read “The Carrot Seed” by Ruth Krauss or “The Enormous Carrot” by Vladimir Vagin.

BE THERE

“How Does Your Garden Grow--Tales of Sowing and Growing,” story time for kids ages 3-8. Saturday, 11 a.m.-noon, free. (A crafts project requires a $3 materials fee, which may be applied to book purchase.) Pages Books for Children, 18399 Ventura Blvd., Tarzana; (818) 34-BOOKS.