What's the best time to begin teaching kids about composting and feeding the soil instead of the plants? Now! And the perfect book to do it is, Compost Stew: An A to Z Recipe for the Earth. This engaging picture book is by noted children's author and former teacher, Mary McKenna Siddals with vibrant illustrations by Ashley Wolff. (Tricycle Press, 2010).
This is a joyful, rhyming alphabetical “cookbook” for making successful compost. Mary Siddals keeps the tone light and the energy high while providing easy-to-follow instructions on how we can all take part in this earth-friendly activity of composting. Beginning the “stew” with Apple cores and topping it all off with Zinnias, the author involves us in collecting, saving, hauling and tossing the various ingredients “into the pot/ and let it all rot/into Compost Stew.” She even explains, in her author's note, the roles of lesser-known items and why they make for good compost.
In addition to the engaging text, the illustrations are “delicious”. Ashley Wolff creates vivid, jump-off-the-page pictures using collage created with recycled and found items that call to mind the texture of the materials used for the “stew”. And her use of an endearing Dalmatian and duck participating in the fun and repeated on each page are fun for children to find and identify with.
Siddals closes with a “Chef's Note” cautioning her readers to pay special attention to local regulations as her recommendations are general. In my experience, a well written children's book can teach both young and old some very important insights and lessons. This is one of those books. It will get us to understand the need for composting and inspire each of us to go out and cook up our own “dark, rich, crumbly, earth-friendly” compost stew.