Mary McKenna Siddals

NEW!  Little Rotters - oodles of resources for teachers
 planning to bring composting into their schools
 
Composting: Compost Critters / Compost Chefs
Compost Crops / Worms at Work (pdf) (US-EPA)

CSI: Compost Science Investigation (pdf) (OR-CCSWD)

Compost in a Bag / Compost Tag / Let's Build a Worm Bin
Warming Up to Worms / Worm Diner (CA-SFE)

A Beaver's Tale: Compost (ON-BRA)

Composting in a Jar (pdf) (OR-DEQ)

Nature's Recyclers - Informational Coloring Book (EEK!)

Composter Coloring Pages and Crossword Puzzle

Garbage Pie - Coloring Pages / Posters (BC-CVRD)

"Leaf" it in Your Yard (Science for Ohio)

Composting in Schools (Cornell University)

Composting: Wastes to Resources (pdf) (Cornell)

Nature's Recyclers: Activity Guide (pdf) (WI-DNR)

Composting Guide (pdf) with Kids' puzzles (OH-CCSWD)

By the Skins of Our Bananas (pdf)
Outline for creating a play about composting (CA-IWMB)

Educational materials (for purchase) including
Compost Gin (card game), Rot 'n Roll CD (songs), Poster

Let's Compost! A heap of picture books to get kids started

A rollicking, rhyming alphabetical recipe.
 An ideal, accessible title to expand composting information for budding environmentalists.
–Kirkus Reviews

Oppenheim Gold Seal Best Book Award:
A delightful alphabet book...
for making your corner of the world green.
–Oppenheim Toy Portfolio
 
A lighthearted introduction to an earth- and kid-friendly activity. The brightly patterned collage artwork featuring a cast of multicultural kids working together will easily draw a young audience. –Booklist

* Sometimes, one title just jumps out of the pile of books and really speaks to us. Compost Stew is one such book...
–Kiwi Magazine (starred review)

An exuberant primer for green-minded kids.
–Publishers Weekly

Ashley Wolff's collage-style illustrations,
made from newspaper, tea bags and
other recycled materials, echo writer
Mary McKenna Siddals's message of reducing waste.
–Rachel Saslow in The Washington Post

A potentially heavy-handed message is delivered
with a light touch so that you want to start your own waste heap right away. Mission accomplished!
–Susan Faust in the San Francisco Chronicle

Using cafeteria scraps, recycled paper, and grass
clippings would teach students how to make this rich,
 robust stew work for their own school gardens and,
 literally and figuratively, improve the earth.
–Mary Hazelton in School Library Journal

An upbeat introduction to composting as an
important step for caring for the Earth. –Childsake

Compost Stew is beautiful, poetic, evocative—
and educational... and I hope  it  will become
as widely read and popular as it deserves.
 –Mollie Katzen, author of
Moosewood Cookbook and Pretend Soup 
 
An alphabetical recipe... in lively verse  that will beguile the ear as it teaches kids how they can nourish their gardens. Little ones will enjoy Wolff's bright, colorful collages that almost seem to pop off the pages...
–Spirituality and Health

Simple but effectively informative for young children...
a great fit for eco-friendly schools and homes.
–Lee Littlewood in Kids' Home Library

So engaging and interesting, I didn't realize it was
also an ABC book until I reached the letter W!
Fun to read and informative to boot.
–Pink Me: Children's books reviewed for grownups

“Bouncy verse” that keeps the pages turning,
while the eyes gobble up the collage illustrations.
–Marsha Weiner in Cornucopia Collection

With delightful multimedia pictures on every page...
 and a catchy text, this is a perfect book to share
with children who are eager to “be green.”
–Marya Jansen-Gruber in Through the Looking Glass