Skip to main content

Diana's White House Garden


Title: Diana's White House Garden
Genre: Historical Fiction
Author: Elisa Carbone
Major Awards: None
Age Group: Kindergarten-2nd grade

 This is the story of Diana Hopkins who lived with her father, Harry Hopkins, the chief advisor to President Franklin Delano Roosevelt in the White House. When the United States was at war, President Roosevelt told his staff that everyone needed to do their part in order to win the war. Diana knew this included her, so she started brainstorming ways to help. She thought of being a spy, but this ended up getting her in trouble with the White House workers. She thought she could be a city official, but a sign she made offended her father. She put pins in satin chairs at the White House, thinking these would defeat the enemies that President Roosevelt talked about. This only got Diana in more trouble, and injured people in the process. One day, President Roosevelt said that he wanted everyone to start growing their own food in their backyards. This gave Diana an idea: she could be in charge of growing the food in the White House garden, which would be sent to the troops. Roosevelt called the garden at the White House, the Victory Garden. With Mrs. Roosevelt's help, Diana started the garden. In the end, Diana made national headlines for her work in the Victory Garden, and inspired people around the world to start their own gardens.

 I absolutely loved this story, and it would definitely be a fun one to have in my classroom! It is a light-hearted story about a young girl trying to navigate life in the White House and it is a lot of fun. Diana gets herself stuck in some sticky situations, and I think young students would get a kick out of her antics! 

 I think that Kindergarten through second grade would be the best ages for this story. It is a simple and easy-to-read story that has a lot of humor in it. It is a longer story, but the words are short and easy to sound out. I think it would be a great story for a read aloud, as well! 

 In my classroom, we could discuss ways that we could help America during a war, or even just in everyday life. We could also plant our own gardens and see if we would have as much luck as Diana did with hers!



Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Diary of a Wimpy Kid

Title: Diary of a Wimpy Kid Genre: Graphic Novel Author: Jeff Kinney Major Awards: #1  New York Times Bestseller, ALA Notable Book Age Group: 3rd-8th grade Diary of a Wimpy Kid chronicles the life of middle-schooler, Greg Heffley in comic form. The book is told from his point of view, as he is the one writing his daily life in his journal. Greg deals with his fair share of unfortunate circumstances throughout the story that many  middle schoolers deal with, as well. For one, he is one of the smallest boys in his class, so that alone is a big deal to a middle school boy. He also is struggling to fit in, and wants nothing more than to be popular (especially among the girls!). It doesn't help that his neighbor, Rowley always asks him if he wants to go "play" after school, which sets Greg off because what middle schooler asks to "play?" The correct term in middle school would be "hang out", according to Greg. In his desire to fit in, he has a fail...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Popcorn Astronauts and Other Biteable Rhymes

Title: The Popcorn Astronauts and Other Biteable Rhymes Genre: Poetry Author: Deborah Ruddell Major Awards: Notable Children's Books, 1995-2019 Age Group: Kindergarten-2nd grade This story features 5-6 poems that correspond to each of the four seasons. These poems are silly and the illustrations really make the poems come to life. For spring, one of the poems is titled "Lickety-Split Picnic." This poem is stating the ingredients needed to have a perfect picnic. There is figurative language used which makes it fun! For summer, there is a poem titled "Welcome to Watermelon Lake!" This poem is about a lake that looks like a watermelon and has pink water. For fall, there is a poem titled "21 Things to Do with an Apple." This poem is the exact way it sounds; it lists 21 different silly things to do with an apple! For winter, there is a poem titled "Gingerbread House Makeover." This poem is about a gingerbread house that is removed of cand...
Post a Comment
Read more

Why?

Title: Why? Genre: Realistic Fiction Author: Richard Torrey Major Awards: None Age Group: Preschool-1st grade Why is a story about six-year-old Jack and the many questions he has. Why are there holes in crackers? Why does healthy food taste bad? Why can't I play with my older brother and his friend? Why can't I have a tail like my dog? Why can't I keep my frog I caught in my bedroom? Why did my goldfish die? Why do I have to take a bath? Why do I have to go to bed if I am not tired? Why?! In the end, Jack falls asleep after asking why he has to go to sleep. His mother replies, "That's why." Jack is a very curious young boy who has many questions for the world, just like a typical six-year-old.  This would be a great book to have in my classroom! Young children like Jack are trying to figure out the world, thus resulting in many questions. I think that children who read this book would totally relate to the questions Jack has!  I believe that this ...
Post a Comment
Read more