What do you think?
Rate this book
Up, Down, and Around
This garden is on the move! A good-time, rollicking celebration of things that grow.
PEPPERS GROW UP.
POTATOES GROW DOWN.
PUMPKINS VINE AROUND AND AROUND.
From seeds dropping into soil to corn bursting from its stalks, from children chasing butterflies to ants burrowing underground, everything in this vibrant picture book pulses with life — in all directions! Sprightly illustrations set the mood for a rhythmic text that follows nature’s course to a final feast of backyard bounty.
PEPPERS GROW UP.
POTATOES GROW DOWN.
PUMPKINS VINE AROUND AND AROUND.
From seeds dropping into soil to corn bursting from its stalks, from children chasing butterflies to ants burrowing underground, everything in this vibrant picture book pulses with life — in all directions! Sprightly illustrations set the mood for a rhythmic text that follows nature’s course to a final feast of backyard bounty.
32 pages, Hardcover
First published March 13, 2007
2 people are currently reading
391 people want to read
About the author
Katherine Ayres
19 books37 followersKatherine Ayres is the author of ten books for children and teenagers. She lives in Pittsburgh, PA where she teaches writing to graduate students and Chatham University.
At age 19 she appeared on the TV show, To Tell the Truth--as a liar. "It was good practice for becoming a fiction writer," she says. "These days I have to make up stuff all the time. And I like it!"
Then, as now, Ayres was a convincing story spinner--members of the panel believed her impersonation as young readers believe and enjoy her characters today.
To get to know Katherine better, visit her website (www.katherineayres.com) and her blog (katherineayres.blogspot.com).
At age 19 she appeared on the TV show, To Tell the Truth--as a liar. "It was good practice for becoming a fiction writer," she says. "These days I have to make up stuff all the time. And I like it!"
Then, as now, Ayres was a convincing story spinner--members of the panel believed her impersonation as young readers believe and enjoy her characters today.
To get to know Katherine better, visit her website (www.katherineayres.com) and her blog (katherineayres.blogspot.com).
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 143 reviews
July 30, 2019
Great book about how different types of garden vegetables grow
April 30, 2019
I really enjoyed reading this in PreK and Family Story Time.
April 26, 2017
A nice, simple story that teaches kids about where our food comes from. The repetition of "up," "down," and "around" makes it easy for kids to join in when reading aloud. Plus, that rhyme scheme is super catchy! There's also some really cool perspective going on in the illustrations. I love how we get a mole's eye view of the vegetables growing under ground and peer down at the tall plants from above. I also like the diversity of the vegetables mentioned - how many picture books can you think of that talk about okra? That's awesome!
I plan to use this one for a garden themed library storytime in April. Might update this with how it went!
4/26/17 Update: I used this book for storytime today, and it went over great! I had the kids reach up high for "up," crouch down for "down," and spin in a circle for "around." They seemed to have a lot of fun! I'd definitely like to use this one again in the future. :)
I plan to use this one for a garden themed library storytime in April. Might update this with how it went!
4/26/17 Update: I used this book for storytime today, and it went over great! I had the kids reach up high for "up," crouch down for "down," and spin in a circle for "around." They seemed to have a lot of fun! I'd definitely like to use this one again in the future. :)
October 13, 2011
Genre: Concept Children’s Book
Summary: The book details a small boy and his friend helping to work and discover in his dad’s garden. Fruits and vegetables are named and the reader is told how they grow in a garden.
Critique: a) Illustrations
The illustrations, while they are cartoon-like, detail mostly accurate details of a garden. The pictures have many details that make the illustrations amazing. The book focuses on directions, yet adds little bugs and animals to show how amzing gardens are. The colors are amazing and interest a reader in the garden. The book focuses on how plants grow, up, down or around. To emphasize the direction, the picture gets bigger in perspective towards the ground, sky, or around.
On the first page there are tiny little signs on each row to indicate what is growing. On the page about beets, they show little underground bugs and a mole living underground. When they talk about potatoes growing down, the picture is bigger on the bottom, making the focus on the potatoes. The people are farther away, but small bugs are still shown throughout the picture.
Curriculum Connection: The teacher can use this book to talk about directions, up, down, or around. However, the great focus of the book is the garden and the amazing things that live and grow there. The last page of the book shows a delicious meal being eaten, which is full of fruits and vegetables from the garden. The teacher can teach her kids about eating healthy, about the earth, and how amazing it is that we can feed ourselves from our own backyard.
Summary: The book details a small boy and his friend helping to work and discover in his dad’s garden. Fruits and vegetables are named and the reader is told how they grow in a garden.
Critique: a) Illustrations
The illustrations, while they are cartoon-like, detail mostly accurate details of a garden. The pictures have many details that make the illustrations amazing. The book focuses on directions, yet adds little bugs and animals to show how amzing gardens are. The colors are amazing and interest a reader in the garden. The book focuses on how plants grow, up, down or around. To emphasize the direction, the picture gets bigger in perspective towards the ground, sky, or around.
On the first page there are tiny little signs on each row to indicate what is growing. On the page about beets, they show little underground bugs and a mole living underground. When they talk about potatoes growing down, the picture is bigger on the bottom, making the focus on the potatoes. The people are farther away, but small bugs are still shown throughout the picture.
Curriculum Connection: The teacher can use this book to talk about directions, up, down, or around. However, the great focus of the book is the garden and the amazing things that live and grow there. The last page of the book shows a delicious meal being eaten, which is full of fruits and vegetables from the garden. The teacher can teach her kids about eating healthy, about the earth, and how amazing it is that we can feed ourselves from our own backyard.
December 12, 2015
Some plants grow up and others grow down and some twine around. Great book for preschool kids to act out!
March 2, 2022
Up, Down, and Around's illustrations caught my eye due to the bright colors and the way that the illustrations are drawn. There are a lot of details, and even the plants are drawn from different angles. Some show a close up of the food, while others are more far away and the vines of the plant stand out more, so you can go on a scavenger hunt to find the food, like on the pumpkin page. I also enjoyed that this book created an opportunity for children to be exposed to some foods from the garden that might be unfamiliar to them, like okra and beets. This book also teaches how each food grows, which is where the spatial words come into play. The foods either grow up (like peppers, corn, and broccoli), down (potatoes, carrots, and onions), or around (pumpkins, green beans, and tomatoes). Children are able to visualize these directions through the illustrations in a tangible way. They might have even tasted some of these foods before, or seen some of these foods growing, which will connect them to their personal experience.
June 14, 2021
One of the final books I interpreted for the Lorain County Metroparks, Ayres's "Up, Down, and Around" is an excellent choice for anyone who enjoys or interprets a visual language. It also makes you crave a fresh veggie plate straight from the garden, and there is nothing wrong with that!
As someone who is gradually becoming a vegetarian after developing a gradual love and respect for veggies, I do not remember how I became enamored by fresh produce, but I do have the nostalgic recollections of the produce from our and our grandfather's garden: and that nostalgia remains magical to me!
While the book is timely, given the first weeks of summer being underway, this picture book would be a good addition to any story time throughout the year. Although not everyone can have an abundant garden in their own backyard, I hope this book sparks a love for rooftop gardens, window sill gardens, farmer's markets, and other ways to enjoy the refreshing taste of produce for readers of all ages!
As someone who is gradually becoming a vegetarian after developing a gradual love and respect for veggies, I do not remember how I became enamored by fresh produce, but I do have the nostalgic recollections of the produce from our and our grandfather's garden: and that nostalgia remains magical to me!
While the book is timely, given the first weeks of summer being underway, this picture book would be a good addition to any story time throughout the year. Although not everyone can have an abundant garden in their own backyard, I hope this book sparks a love for rooftop gardens, window sill gardens, farmer's markets, and other ways to enjoy the refreshing taste of produce for readers of all ages!
September 24, 2021
An adult and two children work together to plant, grow and harvest a whole host of vegetables. The illustrations have lots of fun details for smaller groups to notice and enjoy. I used the Big Book version because we were outdoors and socially distanced so those details didn't show up as much. The text is great for adding movement to storytime (reach up, reach down, roll your hands or spin your whole body in a circle for around) although it can get a tiny bit repetitive. Overall, great for storytime and will definitely be using it again.
Used for Plant Themed Outdoor Music and Movement Storytime June 2021.
Used for Plant Themed Outdoor Music and Movement Storytime June 2021.
June 11, 2018
This colorful book is a great way to introduce new vocabulary (specifically, vegetables), and teach the spatial concepts of "up," "down," and "around." Pictures of growing vegetables depict each spatial concept. While reading, the adult can emphasize these spatial terms; therefore, building upon the child's knowledge of this language concept.
September 11, 2019
An adult and two children (two people with white skin, one with pale brown skin and curly hair) enjoy looking at how vegetable plants grow up, down, and all around. The rhyming words are never awkward, and the placement of the text on each page mimics the actions of the plants they describe (growing up, down, or wiggling around).
Themes: Gardens, Fruits & Veggies
Themes: Gardens, Fruits & Veggies
Read
June 8, 2021Up, Down, and Around can be used with young children to target development of spatial concepts or directional terms "up", "down" and "around". "Up" and "down" usually develop between 1-2 years old, while "around" is a more difficult spatial concept that develops later on, around ages 3-4 years old.
November 7, 2023
This book was just okay, but I did really love how it showed the different ways that fruits and veggies grow. The detailed pictures were interesting and gave the eye a lot to look at, but the amount of detail also distracted the reader from looking at the true purpose of each picture (which was the way that the food was growing).
November 26, 2017
This is a cute story about growing vegetables in the garden. It would be great for a kindergarten story in the spring for kids who get to participate in planting a community garden. My one pet peeve is that the worms have eyes.
November 30, 2017
Plants grow in a variety of ways; up, down, and around! This is a great book to introduce the different ways plants grow to younger children. This book shall be a springtime read for sure!
To read during Toddler Time.
To read during Toddler Time.
November 28, 2018
I first read this book when I was working in a day care and knew I had to get it for my son. I was lucky enough that my local library gave it to him for free! This book is so cute yet informs the little ones what vegetables grow up or down :) My 3 year old loves pointing out the little creatures.
March 31, 2022
One of my favorite gardening books for kids. They enjoy mimicking the growth of the plants with their hands as the plants grow up, down and around. Engaging rhyming text and drawings that never fail to elicit smiles or "ewwwws - I don't like worms".
November 28, 2022
Grade Level: Prek-1st | Genre: Contemporary realistic
This book is about fruits and vegetables and how they grow. The book fulfills its purpose and has the potential to be fun but in my experience of reading this book to children, they don't seem to be all that engaged.
This book is about fruits and vegetables and how they grow. The book fulfills its purpose and has the potential to be fun but in my experience of reading this book to children, they don't seem to be all that engaged.
August 9, 2023
This book is so much fun! It has a couple of great themes! Object placement/Movement Direction and spring garden! My Storytime Littles loved this one! We did a lot of movement during the read aloud! Kinesthetic learning is amazing!
July 5, 2017
Some plants grow up, some plants grow down, and some twist all around. Fun book about food grown in a vegetable garden.
Good for preschool or toddler storytimes.
Good for preschool or toddler storytimes.
July 20, 2017
A fun little book about planting a vegetable garden.
July 21, 2017
Preschool - Garden Storytime
July 24, 2017
We really liked this book. It's big with great illustrations and very colorful. Granddaughter toddler can use her finger to go up down and around on the pretty pages. Lots to look for and at.
October 19, 2017
Such a fun book about growing a garden and helping out. Preschoolers will love the rhyming sing song sound and acting out how all the different plants grow.
February 28, 2018
I love the rhyming and the beautiful colors of this book.
March 9, 2018
Joyful romp in the garden! Readers learn which vegetables grow above and below the soil.
April 5, 2018
Read as a Big Book to start off our garden storytime, this is a great one for kids to identify vegetables and find all of the different kinds of critters in the garden. Really enjoyable, toddler-K.
April 19, 2018
I loved reading this book, I would use this book to teach kids about spatial awareness. This a great book for promoting cognitive development.
June 4, 2018
Teaches up, down, and around while talking about growing vegetables in a garden and then eating them.
Repeats the up, down, and around several times with different vegetables illustrating it.
Repeats the up, down, and around several times with different vegetables illustrating it.
Read
June 13, 2018This wonderful rhyming book is perfect for teaching students about directional words, math concepts and introducing basic science concepts. Additionally, the rhyming allows students to build upon their phonemic awareness. This book is perfect for helping students develop spatial awareness.
May 23, 2019
A new gardening book for story time, simple enough for Lap Time.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 143 reviews