What a fun book! One that will inspire parents to start a green bean garden with their youngsters. Patricia Thomas’s rhyming text is perfect for a read aloud, but also begs kids to get involved. They’ll soon catch on that the last line of each stanza of the poem repeats as the first line of the stanza that follows and they’ll be joining in to repeat the words. Be sure to take a look inside the book by clicking on the jacket cover above to see how the cumulative form works.Kids will love the illustrations by Trina Hunner, too--they’re bright and friendly with the appropriate seasonal detail--e.g. bean leaves shaped like hearts with tiny red flowers in the book’s center spread. I especially loved the winter scene with purple, speckled beans sleeping underground in their brown pod with snowflakes overhead.The rhyming, cumulative text and the illustrations make for a charming book that show the growing cycle of a bean!There are lots of extras at the back of the book about life cycles of plants, how to Grow Your Own Bean Garden, vocabulary, Fun Activities, and more about writing cumulative tales. Perfect for family fun and ideal for classrooms. You’ll want to share this clever rhyming book with all your budding gardeners! I have a special youngster in mind for my copy.