I received a really interesting strawberries book that got me excited about growing things and the idea of selling them too! Mom and I received the book called I Love Strawberries, written by Shannon Anderson and illustrated by Jaclyn Sinquett, for free in consideration for a review. I took to it right away!
The book tells the story of a girl named Julie that loves strawberries so very much, she feels she must grow her own. She asks her mom if she can do it but her mom says she needs to wait until she’s older. As you can imagine, Julie doesn’t want to wait. She sets out on a mission to prove she’s old enough to do the work all by herself. Except, well, she soon learns that maybe it was a bit too much work.
I like that the book is colorful with great illustrations and that Julie is a lot like me – she doesn’t give up, even though she’s not really aware of everything she’s taking on. I also like that the story is told by reading pieces of her notebook or journal and she labels each new entry a “Mission Update.”
One day, a trip to buy flowers with her parents gives Julie a whole new idea: what if she does chores and sets up a lemonade stand to raise enough money to show her parents how responsible she is? Then she could buy a strawberry plant all on her own! Impressed with her dedication and drive, her dad looks up how much it would cost to buy one strawberry plant. The answer: $12. So, Julie keeps at it, and her parents decide to pitch in and help her buy several strawberry plants, but she has to promise to take care of the strawberries and harvest them all by herself.
At first she’s filled with excitement. She takes careful care of her strawberry plants, picks her strawberries, and makes pies and jams to sell at her brand new strawberry stand. But eventually, she gets a little tired of harvesting all the time. So, she decides to create a “pick you own” strawberries promotion to help share her duties and still make some spending money. Then one day her parents take her to a blueberry farm… guess what happens?
This book is so funny and filled with ambition. I get Julie. She really wants to do something at first and after a while, not so much. I think a lot of us can be like that. I really enjoyed that mom was reading Julie’s notes. It felt like I was really part of her journey. Mom liked how the book captured real life in the drawings and the tone. She especially liked the detail of a person in the distance in a wheelchair at a field picking fruit. She says the book is very positive all around.
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ACTIVITIES INSPIRED BY THIS STRAWBERRIES BOOK:
Print and color this free Home-Grown Strawberries Sign
Print and write in your prices for this free farmers market pricing sheet
Print, color, and cut your own empty basket and pretend to pick strawberries (free)
Print these free strawberries and color and cut them to pretend to farm and sell strawberries
Print and color these free strawberry items for your farmers market stand
Pint, color and cut this free pretend money printable to pay and make change for your customers
Have a child lead all this farmers market role play experience
If you have time, make this easy paper strawberry craft in less than 5-minutes!
Practice your math by going from dot-to-dot with this strawberry-loving ladybug
Count the strawberries to solve the math equation
Match upper case and lower case letters to spell the word: STRAWBERRY
Make sure to visit the author’s website for many free strawberry printable activities for kids! The publisher’s website also has free strawberry activities for children.
TALKING POINTS FOR THIS KIDS BOOK ABOUT STRAWBERRIES:
What was your favorite part of I Love Strawberries?
Why does Julie want her own strawberry plant?
Do Julie’s parents agree she should get a strawberry plant?
What does Julie’s mom say when Julie asks if she can grow strawberries?
Why does Julie’s mom feel this way?
What does Julie do to get her mom to change her mind?
Have you ever wanted something and had your grown up say no? What was it? How did it feel?
Did you do anything to change your grown up’s opinion?
Is there anything in this book that you didn’t understand?
USEFUL INFO FOR GROWNUPS
- Book: I Love Strawberries
- Written by: Shannon Anderson
- Illustrated by: Jaclyn Sinquett
- Age Range: 4 to 8
- Paperback edition: 32 pages
- Publisher: Feeding Minds Press (April 5, 2022)
- ISBN-13: 978-1948898065
I hope you love this strawberries book!
