Spot’s Garden: experiences from GhassemAbad Village Library

Spot’s Garden, a children’s book written by Eric Hill, is about a little dog who wants to protect his plants from birds. GhassemAbad Village Library’s librarian connected the concepts of this book to science, the environment, art and living values in her read-aloud session. Read a report of her read-aloud session below:

Location: Sepehr Read with Me Library, GhassemAbad Village, Jiroft, Kerman Province
Librarian: Mahboubeh Ekhlasi
Date: 24 February 2021

Today, I read-aloud Spot’s Garden to children at the library. Prior to that, I talked to them about the topic of the book. Children were able to somewhat anticipate the topic from the cover and the illustrations.

We gathered in the yard for reading. Children would enthusiastically look at the pictures and ask questions. We had small little discussions about the events happening in the books.

After reading, we had a conversation about plant growth, cooperation, friendship, respect to elders and to animals. Then, we went inside and made Spot and grandfather with empty cardboard boxes. Following that, children made small scarecrows with palm tree leaves and boxes.

Children wanted to make themselves like scarecrows. So we returned to the yard. I gave them sunflower seeds to plant at the corner of the yard and for a few minutes, they stood guard next to the sunflower seeds as scarecrows.

In the end, we collected some stones and painted vegetables on them.