How does our garden grow

There is a quiet magic in watching a child plant a seed and wait for it. The waiting is half the lesson. A strawberry does not really come from the fridge. It comes from soil and sun and a little patience, and a child who learns that is a child more connected to the world outside their door.

Children take to gardening more easily than you might expect. Give them a packet of seeds, a small patch of soil that is their own, and the room to get it wrong. They overwater. They dig things up to see how they are doing. That is all part of it. What they learn, almost without noticing, is that good things take time and a little care.

That idea became Ready, Set, Grow.

It is a story about growing things, and about the seasons. The patience of it. The wonder of it. How a garden turns through the year, and how it draws a child outside and keeps them curious about the world around them. We love that moment at the end of the day when everyone settles, the house goes quiet, and a child leans in for a story. We wanted to make a book for that moment too, one that sends them off to sleep thinking about what they might plant tomorrow.

Working with illustrator Ciara Coogan was one of our favourite parts of the whole process. We love how she captured our family. Some of you will notice how young the children are in the illustrations. That is how long this has been in the making. We brought it to life and self-published it ourselves.

Illustrated by Ciara Coogan. Designed by Chapter. Printed in Ireland.

We hope you enjoy reading it as much as we enjoyed creating it.