Victory Gardens!

Diana's White House Garden takes place in 1941 and America is at war.  This book is based on a true story about the ten-year-old daughter of then-White House advisor Harry Hopkins.  Diana wants to do her part to help the war effort on the home front.  She makes many well-intentioned attempts including trying to scare off enemies by sticking pins in the couch cushions, placing a "quarantine" sign on her father's office door, and spying on the housekeeper.

When President  Roosevelt urges citizens to grow their own food so that the produce grown on large farms can go to the soldiers, Diana finally finds a way she can truly help:  a Victory Garden!   She teams up with First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and helps plant a garden right there at the White House.  A wonderful mix of history, gardening, patriotism, and childhood mischief.  We love the sepia-tinted illustrations done in a style that truly reflects the time period.  This is a new favorite in our house. 

It also provides a wonderful context for current-day discussions about growing our own food.  At the time of this blog post, we are in the middle of the global Coronavirus pandemic, our own enemy that needs to be defeated, and many of our struggles are mirrored in this story and time from the past.



We are using this book as a jumping-off point in our house to both study World War II and plant our own Victory Garden.  Here is a link to our mini-unit that I created to go along with our unit study. Included in the printable pack are hand-drawn garden marker cards that will be a great addition to your victory garden!  My daughter enjoyed using the Garden Map page to draw out where she wanted to plant each vegetable that she chose.