Mouse Scouts by Sarah Dillard

Violet and Tigerlily were so excited!  They're leaving the Buttercups behind and moving on to be Acorn mouse scouts.

Yearling and Edelweiss gave me the opportunity to read this book for review (thank you).  It will be published January 5th.

This little chapter book is a charming read with lots of little mouse characters.  Violet and Tigerlily are friends and work together most of the time.  This new level of scouts means they have to start earning their merit badges.  The first project they are given is raising a garden.

The story is fun, with lots of mouse challenges to do the same things that humans do when gardening.  They use plastic utensils and a comb to dig and plant and rake the ground.  They find some seeds in a shed and plant them.  Then they learn how much more work a garden is.

If you've never had a garden, you might want to plant a small container with a vegetable you like and let your child experience gardening, too.  You have the instructions in the book to get it done.  All I'd add is that if your soil isn't very rich, you might want to add some fertilizer.  Growing a garden can be very rewarding but you do have to watch out for the pests.

Can you and your child earn your merit badges?