Farmer Eva’s Green Garden Life is the fifth installment in the series of Food Heroes.

This picture biography sheds light on pioneering female farmer Eva Sommaripa who got inspired by the fresh produce at a small local market, and started her own garden in 1972. Over time, she had more produce than she needed. It gave her next idea to introduce local produce to restaurant chefs. Her ideas continued to evolve and progressed to studying soil and all the creatures living in it, and how to improve compost.

Eva’s story is very short but what it offers is very meaningful and inspiring. It makes one to think about healthy food, community around us, and how to bring people together by sharing food. It inspires to grow own herbs and gives instructions how to plant for example pea shoots from seeds. And reminds to enjoy the beauty of nature and all the joy it offers.

The target age group for this series is 4-8 years. With almost lyrical prose I’d think this is more to be read to children and discussed with them. I’d imagine this book being a good project for a school class and discussed in a group.

Illustrations are interesting and informative.

This is an excellent choice for my agricultural community. And you know I love the female empowerment aspect.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC. I purchased a copy for my library.

Martin tells the story of how Eva Sommaripa came to be a successful farmer. Thanks to the gorgeous illustrations by Christy Hale, you can almost smell the fresh-turned soil. The book may appeal more to adults than children with its calming, tranquil feel and subject matter, but hopefully it will inspire at least a few junior gardeners out there. If nothing else, the reader should appreciate, and share Farmer Eva's deep respect for nature.

What an entrancing true-life story about how Eva Sommaripa grew a love for gardening, community-building, and educating others.

As we read, we could almost feel the salty sea breeze and smell the fresh herbs thanks to Jacqueline Briggs Martin’s descriptive writing style. Young readers will snack on higher order vocabulary words made easier to digest by Christy Hale’s tender and informative illustrations. This book is full of literary devices expertly embedded in the story including parallelism, imagery, and metaphor.

A delightfully balanced meal of technical information and whimsy, “Farmer Eva’s Green Garden Life” ‘is sure to satisfy the palate of readers in every season of life.

Eva and her Green Garden Farm has grown into a resource and business in her area. This simple book shows how she began by enjoying home grown produce and learned more and more and grew many more tasty garden herbs. Fantastic reading for Farm to Table enthusiasts (like me!).
The illustrations by Christy Hale are clear, imaginative, colorful, and informative.
Well suited for reading WITH someone of any age including ESL, and great for gifting to everyone, but especially to a school or your local public library.
I requested and received a free temporary e-book on Adobe Digital Editions from Readers to Eaters via NetGalley. Thank you!
Available 25 Jun 2024 #FoodHeroesBk5

Lovely and inspirational! This is a perfect book for getting children interested in gardening, community, and farm-to-table eating.

There's even some great additional material at the end, including a note from Eva Sommaripa, some facts about female farmers, suggestions for using fresh herbs, some gardening tips, and even some information on the composition of healthy gardening soil.

Highly recommended for any young (or old) readers who are interested in gardening.

Oh, the illustrations are beautiful! I thoroughly enjoyed all of the back matter in this book and learning about Eva Sommaripa and her garden. The text itself lost me a few times. After reading I questioned what the purpose of the text was and had to go back to see if it was a biography or just an informational text about gardening. On my second read through, knowing it was a biography, I was able to follow her story more easily. I think I got distracted by some pages, like the "Brown Underground" and would have possibly preferred that explanation to be minimized since more is offered in the back. Overall, it didn't have the flow I personally look for in a narrative nonfiction, but I would keep on my shelves for the inspiring woman, beautiful illustrations, and content in the back matter.