Review of Green Bean’s Garden by Educator Ambassador’s

5/13/2024

Supporting SEND Children

Green Bean's Garden | Kids' Book

Following the launch of Anita Frost's new children’s book, Green Bean’s Garden, one of Green Bean Studios Precious Moments Ambassadors, Gill, shared some wonderful feedback about the book.

After qualifying as an Early Years Practitioner and working in nursery classes and Key Stage 1 classes for 16 years, Gill went to retrain at Bolton University as a lecturer. Initially her subject was Education, which involved teaching future Teaching Assistants, but she was also asked to lecture in Early Years.

During her 16-year lecturing career, she worked in two large colleges, teaching the full range of both Education & Early Years qualifications, but also had specialisms in Safeguarding, Special Needs, and Behaviour.

Below, Gill shares her review of Green Bean’s Garden:
“The beautifully presented book has illustrations that are bright and bold and are suitable for stimulating the development of young children.

The pages are sturdy to encourage fine motor skills in page turning, though these, due to the length of the story, do make the book quite heavy, so the book may need to be supported if a young child wanted to look at it independently.

The flaps promote early pincer movement, fine motor skills, and eye - hand coordination really, really well, and are durable for little fingers! The flaps all hold additional parts of the story, to encourage the excitement of what happens next.

The ‘feely’ parts of the book are my particular favourite as this uses other senses, which is especially important when working with children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND). Touch is so important in early years in general, (and particularly with SEND children), as it is through touch that most learning is done in these first years.

The Velcro strap is another great example of this in the book, as not only does it hold the book together when closed, but provides an additional texture, and introduces the sense of sound. I can see children loving pulling the strap on and off and enjoying the sound it makes. What a great extra addition!

This book is perfect for sharing, creating a bond that comes from storytime, and due to the topic, it also promotes a love of the outdoors. This story could be followed by children going outdoors to dig in gardens, just as they have seen Green Bean and friends do.

The importance of books like this is huge. Children are becoming less familiar with the outdoors as family lives and dynamics are changing in a fast paced society that wants everything instantly and on demand.

Seeds don’t grow overnight! There is such a value in teaching them to wait and see what happens when we love and care for something, even if we don’t see it yet! Things are happening in the soil, and when they see those shoots, it is the most exciting thing.

A lot of children will be unfamiliar with growing seeds, as it is too easy to buy a plant or flower, and as for growing fruit or vegetables, well that is often unheard of!

For a number of children, fruit and vegetables are not familiar items in their household. Processed or convenience foods are often cheaper and have a longer shelf life, making them a more affordable option on many shopping lists.

I have been amazed over the years at the number of children who are unfamiliar with what we would call ‘standard fruit and vegetables’. They have not known what these are – never mind actually tasted them. Babies and young children are now raised on a high sugar diet from a very young age.

Snacks, such as sweets and chocolate, are given instead of fruit, such as raisins, grapes, or strawberries, or vegetable snacks, such as cucumbers, carrot sticks, or peppers, encouraging a future of unhealthy food choices as they become sugar dependent.

For families with no access to outdoor spaces, we can encourage growing fruit or veg in window boxes or planters, or finding community gardens in their local area. Some schools in deprived areas have made small community gardens to promote a love of the outdoors and the experience of growing your own food; and as we know, if children have ‘made it’ they will eat it!
This book is a great introduction to this whole concept, and I look forward to seeing its impact.”

We absolutely love this amazing review from Gill and fully agree on the importance and impact that books such as this can have to support children’s development, health, and wellbeing.

0 Comments