Seedfolks by Paul Fleischman

Its hard to believe that I, who grew up not knowing that I am dyslexic (my mother didn't tell me until I was expecting my first child), would become an avid reader and book lover. There are many great books that I could write about but I chose to tell you about a nice book that can be taught in the Israeli classroom. The Jelly library in Bakaa has 50 copies and the story is suitable for all ages.

The book is Seedfolks by Paul Fleischman. It's actually a collection of vignettes about the development of a community garden. A vignette is when an author writes about a specific moment, setting, character or object. Blogs, diary entries and poetry are all vignettes. In Seedfolks, each chapter tells the development of a community garden through the eyes of a single character. There isn't a beginning, middle or end to any of the chapters and there isn't a plot. Each character, mostly immigrants, tells how he  or she got involved with the community garden and how the garden improved their lives. Some of the characters meet other characters from the book, and others don't.  Most of the characters have an issue in their life that the community garden helps ease. Because each chapter can stand on its own, not all chapters need to be read for the reader to understand the story, making it a good choice in the EFL classroom.

Fleischman wrote the chapters such that each chapter shows the growth of the community garden. In the first chapter, Kim, a young girl, incidentally begins the garden when she plants six lima beans. In the second chapter, a nosy neighbour, helps keep the saplings alive by making sure they get watered. In the third chapter, another neighbour is inspired by Kim and begins his own patch in the vacant lot and so on and so on. By the end of the 13th chapter, the community garden is temporarily abandoned because its winter. The reader has met thirteen diverse characters, has had a glimpse into their lives and is witness to the transformation of a vacant lot into a garden then brings meaning to the lives of its participants. Many themes are expressed in this short book (102 pp) such as diversity, community, stereotypes, meeting challenges, people reconnecting to nature and the power to make a change.

I like this book because of its positive messages.  Any one of the themes in Seedfolks would make for a great topic in the classroom. Written for children, the language is relatively easy making this book a great choice for Junior High or elementary native speakers. The vignette style is also friendly for language learners, but most of all, its the optimistic messages that make this a fabulous read in the classroom.