Daddy Takes Us to the Garden by Howard Roger Garis

On a muddy spring afternoon, Harry and Mabel Blake are restless, bored, and full of questions—until their mother turns their bad moods into a lesson about the seasons, helping at home, and the quiet challenges of wartime life. Soon their ordinary days bloom into adventure as baking, a mischievous poodle named Roly-Poly, and a kitchen mishap show them that family life can be playful, practical, and full of surprises. When Daddy Blake returns with a "new game," the game proves to be gardening. With neighbors preparing their own plots, the children learn to care for plants, guard their dog from digging up seedlings, and start tomato plants in a glass-covered box. Aunt Lolly and Daddy Blake expand the lessons with clever experiments and hands-on instruction about cucumbers, cabbage, corn, and beans, teaching how roots, pollen, silk, spacing, and sunlight help food grow. But gardening is no easy game. A fierce hailstorm sends Hal racing outside to protect his corn, only for Daddy Blake to show him the limits of control and the realities of weather, loss, and resilience. As autumn nears and harvest time approaches, the children discover that the garden is both a contest and a living classroom, where work, patience, and surprise yield the richest rewards. This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design.