“Borrrring,” whines Zack who lives way out in the country with no close-by friends and nothing to do. Zebra Street is far outside town while his friends live in town on Anteater or Caribou or Egret streets. “I hate the boonies,” he says. To keep busy, he decides to plant his very own garden of zucchini, gourds, pumpkins, and watermelons. Can you guess what happens?

Zack’s Zany Zucchiniland is an 8” x 10” full color, beautifully illustrated book for kids about 5-10 years old. Zack is a gardening book with a plot. Children and adults will love reading it together. Try making the two zucchini bread recipes on the inside covers of the book. Refer to the glossary if any of the words stump you. (Go to the Buy Here page for details or Amazon.)

Here’s another kid who’s totally bored. He planted a garden, too. Pretty good for a kid, huh?

                                                           Wow, look what could happen!

Here are some fun questions to answer about Zack and his Zany Zucchiniland.

Using the Clues, Find Some of Zack’s Favorite Words and Fill in the Blanks (Reading the book will help!)

The hero’s name is (1)_________.
He lived on (2)__________________________.
He was lonely and (3) b____________.
His friends said he lived in the (4)_____________________.
He decided he wanted a (5) g______________ of his very own.
His mom and dad helped him dig up the (6) ____________.
He jumped on his (7)___________ and rode into town.
Mr. (8)___________ sold him four (9) s_____________________.
He bought (10) z___________________, (11) g_____________, (12) p________________, and (13) w__________________________.
When it was time to (14) p_______________, he dug in lots of (15) c__________________ and made a (16) m________________ for each seedling.
As the little plants were growing, he added some (17)_________________________, too.
The (18) v___________ grew everywhere, up the (19) _________________ and (20)___________________ and (21)__________________.
Dad thought it was like an attack of the (22) M____________________ Zucchinis. (23)__________ and his Mom even made up (24) r___________________ for zucchini (25)____________.
His garden was a big (25) ____________________!
He even earned enough (26) ________________ to buy a new (27)_____________.