Harlem Grown, a great good-night, non-fiction book that will inspire

You say Harlem to some people and they’ll either think of the neighborhood in New York City or the backdrop to the classic Eddie Murphy movie from 1989. Either way, they have the same setting. However, some people will associate it with Harlem Grown. I had heard about the garden in a news story a couple years ago and now it’s a fabulous illustrated book that’ll motivate some kids or simply be a great, good-night book to others.

Harlem Grown is a great example of a well paced illustrated book. There are certainly many details that exist beyond Harlem Grown, the school garden that started in 2011. The genius of the book is that it distills the reason for the garden’s existence into a story that allows emerging readers to follow along, as well as, using their imagination to add more details.

Its panoramic layout is also perfect for the book’s illustrations by Jessie Hartland. They have a folk-art appearance to the art that urbanites might think would make the book look too country. However, in reality it adds a loose, playful appearance that compliments the story. Some of the pages have the students and garden as the main focus; while others back up and allow the grand scale of the garden or the city to take front seat. The final pages of the book are a great example of the later when the effects of the garden can really be seen.

The text by Tony Hillery is great for early elementary age readers because of its brevity. The words, combined with the illustrations tell much more of the story than a book twice its size. In this case, the sum is truly greater than the sum of its parts.

It didn’t start out this grand. Mr. Tony started to volunteer at PS 175, the elementary school that was right across the street from an abandoned lot. This lot had trash strewn about it and was otherwise unsightly, but he had an idea. Piece by piece, he and lots of volunteers started to clear out the garbage, eventually leaving them with a field of dirt.

That was topped off with some clean, new soil and the kids from the school were invited to help. The kids weeded, planted and watered then watched as the plants grew. Some of the plants didn’t grow, but they were encouraged to try different things. They tried raised garden beds and then kale, basil and all manner of edibles were sprouting from the garden. This allowed the kids to take the food home. It provided a place for kids with too much energy, who otherwise might have gotten into trouble, to focus on something productive.

Harlem Grown is the name of the book, as well as the garden itself. The book is a great good-night book and so much more. It’s the kind of book that, if you slow it down and point out the details, could be read once to a child before they go to bed. However, it’s detailed enough to where you could point out details, in addition to reading it at a normal pace and still read it twice to children who should otherwise be trying to sleep.

The true nature of the story also lends itself to something that slightly older readers might want to read more about. For those mid-elementary readers there are additional resources in the back of the book. There are also basic steps in how to start a garden and a two-page spread by its founder Tony Hillery. It will also comfort kids and garden failures that he’s killed many more plants then have grown. This is a feel-good book that will make you feel great. It provides inspiration for kids everywhere to do what happened to that overgrown, lot in Harlem back in 2011.

Harlem Grown is by Tony Hillery with illustrations by Jessie Harland and available on Simon & Schuster.

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