On February 12, tropical storm Gabrielle hit the North Island of New Zealand, causing gale-force winds, mudslides, and severe flooding which has displaced thousands of people in rural communities. Anyway, my favorite book as a child was by Virginia Lee Burton called The Little House. Hello Im so excited to hear about Zoe and from my country of birth! My favorite were Raggedy Ann and Andy books and Peanuts. I have a small flower business called Natures Reflections in Oregon. I read it over and over; it sparked an incredible imaginative side of my brain that I credit a lot of my creativity to! Ive now just finished writing a childrens book Zaras Zany Worms @zaraszanyworms featuring my sweet niece Zara! How these stories helped form who I am todaya person cognisant of the struggles in life, a bit mischievous at times, and always ready for an adventure. She always let us pick them. Botanical gardens, floral prints, & paintings or being in woodlands, streams, or ocean, as being outside in nature is what makes me feel at my best. Growing up in Canada I loved all the Anne of Green Gables books. words that rhymes with alexis. :-). I liked the magazine teen because I loved seeing the girls with snow beanies on because they were always so cute. she inherited my passion for gardening and has dahlias from seed and loves roses and zinnias and cosmos and .. This is still true for me now that I am an adult and grandmother. My grandma would bring me books from yard sales, I would get books at the library, and when I was lucky I would get to go to the bookstore at the mall (those are long gone now). I now grow and preserve over 90% of our needed fruit and veg. food that rhymes with alexis sheetz employee stock ownership June 23, 2022. social dynamic synonym The Family Under the Bridge. I loved books that contained stories and illustrations of animals and nature. Roald Dahl was and is always so good. These we read aloud and we enjoyed all the lessons of character and self-sustainability! Beauty, tenderness, strength, mystery, wistfulness, and the idea that things unfold in their own time and are beautiful at every stage. There was a mother who baked fabulous pies and put them on the window sill to cool. Very informative. These important principles continue to shape my life almost 40 years later. I loved Nancy Drew books as a child! That all changed in fourth grade when, while dusting, I opened up an original Nancy Drew my grandmother had given me (think WWII-era) to see what it was about. And now my 7 year old daughter is reading some of the same books :). But when I was 20, we went to Chincoteague and I stood out on the beach at 4 a.m. to get a good spot to watch the ponies swim. I think that the simple act of searching for objects has a way of slowing you down, as if walking through a garden, taking in every little detail. Like your beautiful looking creation! This intriguing book transported me into the secret world of gardens and nature. As a child one of my favourites to read were the Chronicles of Narnia, being immersed in magical worlds has always been the best part of reading! Your Lost and Found book looks incredible. When I was little I thought Id become too old for picture books and I was sad about that. Houses full of secrets and warmth. I think this is part of why I love growing flowers in being in the dirt. The story has become a part of me as no other story ever has and Im sure that is why Ive spent my life trying to create the same magic in my garden for my family. When the BFG spends time in dreamland placing them in jars and bestowing them onto children, it feels akin to my experience of bringing a couples vision to life and sharing the joy of what flowers can do to tell a distinctive story. Anything that combined a great story with beautiful illustrations charmed me. There were silly little characters that I thought were so fun to find, and I didnt feel so different sitting with my brothers when I had books that I could read on my own. This mindset definitely helped me raise my kids I kept my eye out for opportunities to teach life and growth lessons in unexpected ways. It took me a while to train my eyes on how to see through the pattern to find the picture, but once I figured it out I couldnt get enough! A salad is the perfect way to get your daily dose! my favorite- John Bauer. It was a childrens addition and it had bright beautiful illustrations of flowers and creatures that literally popped up in a very 1970s way! So versatile and always delicious to eat. As a child I loved mysteries with a bit of magic especially those by Ruth Chew. My favorite book when I was little was The Little Mouse, The Red Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear. Expand your pets menu and watch them thrive. To see our full selection of genre-specific rhymes, triggers that get your creativity flowing, and next line suggestions from our incredible A.I. Nearly everything I read was historical fiction, especially the classics. Thank you for your support! So maybe not having books as a child made me love having them as an adult. Always loved anything that had to do with crafting (in all its forms)or should I say anything creative My moms old biology textbooks, it opened my mind to wonder. One of my favorite books as a child was The Story of Ferdinand about a bull who liked to sit quietly under a cork tree and smell the flowers. I believe that her curiosity helped me to learn thats its good to be curious too! Pop a food item on the plate and have its pair and one other object ready. I feel that honoring others and what they are going through is so important. Now I have a small but robust vegetable garden, fruit trees, and many flowers. My mother worked, and when she was home she was in her own world, so consequently we usually felt alone. Truly devastating and many many months, if not years of toil to fix Some people will never get back to pre Gabrielle and every donation, no matter how small will be greatly received. Its the illustrations that really bring them to life for me, but also the beautiful British languagesimple yet more complex and with a somewhat challenging vocabulary for young American children. As a child one of my favorite books was Flower Fairies where each variety of flower was a different fairy. I eventually became a sixth grade teacher myself and then homeschooled my own children and continued the tradition. I am a woman of 70 years. She noticed the rolling hills and had the greatest idea. I guess I wanted to find myself lost in time periods and places that would challenge my way of thinking. As a child, the Anne books or classics like the Secret Garden and the Little Princess were enchanting to me. As far as shaping me as an adult, Im not sure! Thank you, Erin, for this wonderful interview and for brining Zoes story to us. It was such a simple time. It holds those stories in my mind. I spent a lot of time with my horse at the barn and these books reflected my rough and tumble life. Even though their lives were so different then, compared to my 1950s childhood, I still related to the themes of friendship and growing up. Read everything I could on these beautiful creatures, owned a pony at age 6, grew into a horse at age 10. This interview brought up ALL the magic. My go-to books for reading, then and now, have always been science fiction! I developed a love of reading at an early age and still enjoy taking a book outdoors and reading in the garden. Too many to choose just one. Both my parents were botanists and I grew up growing flowers and veggies . I didnt realize it at the time, but I loved books with strong female protagonists; Nancy Drew, Anne of Green Gables, The Boxcar Children. Lately Ive been very interested in learning more about indigo and natural dye and pigment. And I still LOVE to read. The story is about the pure magical qualities and healing powers of a garden and those images and feelings have stayed with me all my life. Leave themadd a gate instead and you can have your own secret garden And that, she did. 5. The stories of someone winning through hardship or overcoming and figuring out a tough situation was such an inspiration. Kia kaha. Je ne sais pas si jai le droit de participer au concours tant donn que je demeure au Canada, mais je tente ma chance. I believe this joy set me up for a love for books which spanned over the course of my life, including present day, and Im sure the future. Before I could read, I would definitely spend hours in the seek and find books. That curiosity has stayed with me and is what has driven me to explore and pursue many different things in my adulthood. The book was about a boy who wanted a pig. The characters in these stories informed the kind of things I could do with my life. While it is always hard to choose a favorite book, The Reason for a Flower by Ruth Heller may be one of my earliest childhood favorites. This book just sings to me! Comments. My grandmother had a bookshelf full of them in the leather-protected cover. . The farm is an ever-evolving storyits always a surprise the places it leads you. I have loved to read ever since I was a child. I grew up in church in the 1950s being born in 1947. Then I got to repeat it all again when homeschooling my boys. I loved coming off age novels that included nature and magic. This book looks lovely and one I definitely need., horses (i were in love with this animal so beautiful, sensitive and intelligent) books, with a lot of pictures because i draw them and i looked a british series on a farm with horses folly foot.otherwise my sister red me thousand timessss la chvre de M. Seguin the goat wants her freedom.voil:). I would empty one out and flip through the pages mesmerized by the pictures. As a child I loved the Black Stallion. My favourite books were the Enid Blyton Magic Faraway Tree and Wishing Chair series because they were filled with magic and adventure. Im very into science as an adult! And now when Im working on my bit of earth, I think of my childhood friend Mary, and the robin, and I smile. Books and flowers what else could you want really. So today I live in an old Victorian that weve been fixing up for over ten years. I think it has shaped my beliefs that dedication and hard work pay off and are worthwhile. But sometimes they need to try new things. So if youre feeling hungry and need a little something to tide you over. Many thanks to those of you who share the beauty of flowers with so many. She has been my book! All the characters have such interesting personalities and interactions with each other, and the color palettes for each book are so attractive. 4. When I got older and learned to read on my own, I loved reading them again and again. My mom kept the Wheres Waldo books out in our living room. The illustrations were so colouful and beautiful, using the flowers and leaves as their clothing and was set amongst the gorgeous bush scenery. Remove the non-rhyming word and restate the rhyme. I sped through the Goosebumps series at the library and then was left hunting for more ways to get that safe, scary thrill of reading a horror novel. Growing up as an only child, the books that really resonated with me were stories of a young girl making it on her own. Owning my own horse was a dream. The idea of being a young inquisitive woman always appealed to me and I must say persists today. Ever since my elementary days Ive been drawn to books spinning tales of people living off the land, whether it was spotlighting the lifestyles of indigenous peoples, or the rugged hardships of early pioneers. I read, a dozen times, a book called Mrs. Mike. I loved looking at the I Spy book series as a kid, which are filled with miniatures of all kinds, and I still love miniatures too! It taught me many of the skills I needed to care for having my own. (Her foxgloves began my own love for them too). A neighbor had lent me a Nancy Drew Mystery and started me off. The books were about a little girl finding joy being outside, appreciating the beauty of nature, despite the circumstances in her own life. It gave me a sense of wonder and made me want to explore the world around me. As an adult, I still find joy in getting lost in a good book. Today I pore through quilting books searching for fabrics in rich colors that match my summer flowers. The books shaped my view of history and self sufficiency. I always loved books about pioneers, whether biographies or fiction. As a child, the best part to me was when she meets the talking flowers. Its a beautiful day, yet relaxed and down-to-earth, the perfect recharge. These books highlighted a simpler time, and showed the special relationship between a boy and his dog (Ribsy). I have always loved to read and the highlight of my week as a child was my trip to our library. I was a voracious reader as a kid (still am) but that one book has stuck with me above all others. I Spy books were favorites of mine growing up and still are, as Ive introduced them to my children. Some were collections of French (Perault) or German (Grimm) fairy tales from my home countries, but I had a deep fascination for two Russian fairy tale books with detailed illustrations, as well as several volumes illustrated by Arthur Rackham. Life was simple and their daily chores appealed to me. Today, I still love looking at the pictures from this great big world of ours and learning about other cultures. Its title alone has lit something in my spirit. We still get them out and play with them! As an adult, Im breaking free from the golden child complex and finding what my heart truly desires. I remember one summer, I must have been 11 or 12, when I put a chair by my window in my room and fastened the curtains behind the chair to create a little nook. Kim Fishback. Little hands offering joyous bouquets to preschool teachers. I am always striving to simplify my life and focus on relationships and Gods beauty which most certainly includes flowers ! . Thank you for a lovely interview and insane photos! One by one, the books arrived in our mailbox and I loved every one of them. Not exactly gardening inspired, but I was inspired by the ingenuity and challenge to carve out a subsistence living in the Midwest in the 19th century. Reading the authors description of the natural landscape (including flowers! Now I love flower growing and arranging. I encourage others in include a cutting garden in their garden plan. The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein, was a favorite since it was read to me in grade school. I loved a book that was an about Jesus. From apples to zucchini, theres something for everyone. I would live out those adventures on a little plot of no mans land that was next door to my home. Growing up (and even still), I loved books with magic, from Harry Potter to the Narnia series and Roald Dahl. When I was young I was obsessed with Nancy Drew. We read gardening books about plants and flowers before starting our planting each Spring. My childhood favorites are Grimms Fairytales, The Lord of the Rings series, anything about fairies, and a picture book called The Seamstress of Spitz that I cant find now but that I remember had ornate detailed drawings of very fancy princess/queen dresses which I loved. Magic and nature how could they not be favorite things? I love the rhythm books. Thanks for the interview and this opportunity! My favorite book as a child was, The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett. Required fields are marked *. My childhood fave was the book Gnomes by Wil Huygen. When I was younger I loved the Mrs. Piggle Wiggle books. These stories taught me to look past the mundane and realize the magical in life. Nancy was so clever and confident! When I garden I think about this book. I spent pleasurable HOURS poring over photos of King Tuts mask and treasures, grand English country homes and landscapes/gardens, Art Nouveau jewelry, horse breeds of the world, illuminated manuscripts, Japanese woodblocks, Persian miniatures, you name it. I collect vintage floral and fauna books as my favorites now as they bring me great joy in the wonderful pictures and valuable information that is still essential for my imagination. DREAM BIG friends! That same emotion in my reading imagination connects with wonder as a bud emerges. I read Nancy Drew, Golden Books(including The Golden Encyclopedia), Beauty & The Beast, all the Winnie- THE POOH books, Walt Disneys Secrets of Life, and Alice in Wonderland! I would say the direction of our business has shifted from just supplying flowers wholesale to now creating with our flowers. Continue with all the pairs or less if your class needs a shorter lesson. 5. I have a soft spot for anything with multicoloured flecksroses, dahlias, zinniasI love them all. Today I share and surround myself with garden beauty (and oversize art books!) I loved books about the great outdoors and the people and animals who made it their play place. Amelias Notebook series were my favorites, loved the inner monologue style and the charming illustrations! Pets love to eat their favorite foods. As a child I was interested in history books. My love for flowers had always spilled into my art work and I couldnt get my hands on enough books or magazines that showed me the way to my current craft love! The theme is secrets, hidden places, special spots that only certain people knew about. Today I love reading all genre of books, but I am amazed at the beautiful childrens books with such vivid artwork that are available to read aloud to our children and grandchildren. That was a revelation. But My books today are very different and definitely include anything about flowers, biographies of interesting people from the past, and anything to increase my emotional and spiritual wisdom. I still collect tons of books as an adult and I believe its an addiction. I remember being in awe of how vast our universe is, which makes me even more impressed with the smallest details in life. I loved arts and crafts books. This book has helped me to value myself, who never fit in, and others even if we dont see eye to eye, theres something unique and special about everyone to appreciate. I loved the independent nature of the characters solvingysteries in adult world. Animals who had conversation invited me, the reader, into cabbages, carrots and Farmer McGregor, nearly missing capture from the garden! Our favorites were, The Swiss Family Robinson and The Hobbit. Rank 1 rhymes. I now have the greatest pleasure of reading the books to my young kids! My grandmother had these giant old books she would read to us from. My favorite books started out by authors like Madeleine LEngle and C.S. I still have my old Nancy Drew books on a shelf! Many thanks. The Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, Alfred Hitchcock and The Three Investigators. Je me souviens que nous avions la collection complte des livres de Disney que ma maman ctait procurer avec un abonnement. Loved them! This gave me hope as a young child that I would have a different story than my parents. LOTR followed, I think I read that series when I was 12. However From the Mixed up Files of Mrs Basel E Frankweiler was a favorite. My favorite was Addy. That has always stuck with me as a reminder of what truly matters in life. I love that authors take real events and craft a story around them. Its been an opportunity to learn the characteristics of certain flowers, their names and their seasons of growth. I actually struggled to enjoy reading as a child. I can not remember a time when I was not reading. Most of my favorite childhood comfort books celebrated the power of female friendships: Anne of Green Gables, the Betsy Tacy series, Ginnie and Geneva series, Nancy Drew. Strangely, I think it may have been the Choose Your Own Adventure books. I gravitated towards books about misunderstood girls (Meg Murray of Wrinkle in Time, etc.) I lived for Scholastic book fairs and fliers. I didnt even realize the book had words until I was an adult and I bought a copy of it for my own children. Fast forward today, I am now a grandmother and living in Minnesota. Personally I think by reading these books patience and solution finding skills are acquired. In recent years Ive been pulled towards flowers, mandalas, and abstract suns. I also loved seek and find books (wheres Waldo, anyone?). While she was at her signing her baby daddy, Fetty Wap, came to congratulate her, and these two shared a few words after months of not seeing one another. When I was a little girl of about 7, my Dad took me to the library for the first time. If it was printed words, I read it. On the weekends we read chapter books. I da a set of Ridge Riders- horse books . All filled with inquisitive creatures and delightful illustrations. I was enchanted by a book with incredibly beautiful illustrations: The Girl and the Rain by Milena Lukesova. I lived vicariously through her adventures. The well worn book is displayed on a shelf in my office and still makes me smile every time I look at it. Its so interesting to see how someones twists and turns in life contributed to their success, even when they thought those challenges were devastating at the time. The colored illustrations are so vivid you feel like you can just walk into them. Written byFloret. Thank you for sharing such an amazing duo. I love finding the originals ones in thrift stores and even at the book stores still. Youll be amazed at how much better youll feel. I even won an award in middle school for most books read. Interesting books werent available to me as a child, but as an adult, Ive made up for it. I said we were downscaling, but we ended up using it as a good excuse to source more. What an absolutely gorgeous book!! I now have 2 Kune Kune pigs (the breed is originally from New Zealand !) Its been a hard season for the roses, so I feel like my new additions didnt quite get to shine like they normally would. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. That belief has always grounded me. Erin, you are an inspiration. Probably influenced me to become a nurse. Harry Potter was my favorite series as a child. Its taught me to look for magic in my life, to be brave, to conquer fears, to overcome doubt, to find purpose and determination in my life. Its all so much fun. My favorite book when I was growing up was Miss Rumphius It was a story about a little girl that grew up wanting to travel the world. Hmm, which words rhyme? While their experience is more wormy and dirty than I remember mine being, I love sharing it and seeing the natural world through their eyes! Or hope to come across a squirrel that could talk. Dr Seuss Cat in the Hat. I would have sweet dreams of flowers and would grow up to have a garden of my own in a small Maine village. I even ended up naming one of my children after one of the kids in Boxcar Children not solely for that reason but in hindsight its neat to see how that seed was planted. My favorite books included the Mrs. I remember loving Roald Dahl, Nancy Drew, and the silly poetry of Shel Silverstein! Im going to need to buy a bigger bookshelf for my flower books! and they passed that obsession on to me. Now I need a LOST AND FOUND flower book!. It such a joyful pleasure to see such a passion passed on. The type of book that shaped who I am today is not a book but a magazine, National Geographic. Blue Willow by Doris Gates is a lovely tale of a migrant farm workers daughter who has one blue willow plate that she relishes. I loved the Madeline book series! The scenic narrative always caught my attention and since Im lucky enough to have grown up in the midwest, helped to instill in me a real love of nature, gardening, and wildlife. Yes I graduated from high school snd went to a community college in my 40s I took lots of classes trying to find my passion I took lots of test to find I have no learning issues. So many hours were joyfully spent lost in those pages with Laura on her many adventures in the fledgling frontier. When I was a child, I hated pulling weeds, haha. So fun! Bobbsey twins, Encyclopedia Brown, The Great Brain changed to Nancy Drew and Trixie Belden then on to Sherlock Holmes, Agatha Christie (of course! Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers. Put them both on the printable and say all three words. It shaped me by showing me the importance of reading to my own children, which I did for many, many years. An interactive delight with a Christmas sequel we enjoy when the holiday trunks come down from the attic. Yes! Still love them, but no longer have one in my back field. Throughout my childrens elementary years we read Frog and Toad, Magic School Bus and various books of exploring and learning always with a theme of humor woven through. I loved the Magic Tree House books as a kid! I think this book will be a perfect addition to an afternoon on the porch with a tall glass of icy lemonade! The languid youth stood out forever in my mind. I love flowers, gardening and the beautiful earth we live on. Books were by best friends especially during the long summer days. What a beautiful book and post! Gather your materials. Headgerow life is such an ideal world. The drawings were so beautiful and the flowers and fairies were as magical then as they are now. My mom is Russian and my dad has Ukrainian roots and I speak both languages and loved reading in both as a child. I also read a lot of books about butterflies and flowers, so its no surprise that Im now growing native wildflowers and teaching others about pollinator conservation. I felt the pain of what is written there about friendship and love. My earliest memory of my favorite book is Thumbelina. Now the two share a daughter, Alaiya Grace, who was born three months premature earlier this year. As a child, I discovered biographies in my school library. When I moved to the states at 10, I read my first book (Harry Potter) and that opened my interest in reading and fantasy! Thanks for introducing me to this wonderful flower grower and the beauty she and her mum being into the world . (And my daughters name is Zo!). I loved those books! From the cover to the last page, I was enchanted by the idea that there was a secret garden that had been abandoned and was there to not only tell of the past, but held the opportunity to become a beautiful part of the future. My mother sacrificed a lot to raise me and my siblings and brand-new clothing was always a rarity in our family! Zoe, I enjoyed reading about your love of flowers. Purity of intention and purity of action, honesty, faithfulness and staying sober are my priorities. Well, that has been over come by events now, but it is still a wonderful memory for me in that safe little spot in my heart. The Cyclo Teacher tool that came with them was such fun. I still am. I loved The Phantom Tollbooth and I continue to travel in real life and in my minds eye!