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Author helps kids get their hands dirty

By Andy Mead amead@herald-leader.com

Mark Cornelison | Staff

Karen Angelucci has written a book about gardening for kids: Grimy, Grubby Gardening. It's illustrated by James Asher, and Angelucci's daughters Sarah, left, and Rachel appear in the illustrations.

Book signings

Karen Angelucci will sign copies of her book at:

■ 2 to 4 p.m. Sept. 13 at Joseph-Beth Booksellers in Lexington Green.

■ 2 to 4 p.m. Sept. 20 at The Arboretum on Alumni Drive. Dirt (a dessert made of a mixture of chocolate pudding, Oreos and Gummy Worms) will be served, and a portion of the proceeds from book sales will go to the Arboretum's children's garden.

When Karen Angelucci was growing up in Cynthiana, her parents let her "rip and run" through the countryside.

Her grandparents had been chosen the Kentucky Farm Family of the Year a few times.

Gardening and the love of plants came quite naturally.

Now an adult with children of her own, Angelucci lives in Lexington, in a house with a husband, two children and a too-small yard.

And she's trying to instill a love of growing things in her daughters: Sarah, 11, and Rachel, 6.

"I'd like them to know where a tomato comes from, besides Kroger's," Angelucci said.

Thus we have Grimy, Grubby Gardening (McClanahan Publishing House, $14.95), a new book about gardening that is aimed at kids. The book is dedicated to Sarah and Rachel, referred to as "My Beautiful Flowers."

It is a small book, just 32 pages. Every page is brightly illustrated by James Asher (Sarah and Rachel appear in the illustrations). And it's full of easy-to-understand explanations and facts.

It explains the importance of fresh air, clean water, sunshine and good soil. It takes you through the life cycle of a plant, and it details the differences of annuals, perennials and biennials. It provides a list of what should and should not go into a compost pile. It lays out just what nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium do for plants.

This is all good stuff for kids to know. Grown-ups, too. In fact, Angelucci said, a number of adults have expressed an interest in getting a copy of Grimy for themselves, "because it breaks it down and makes it real easy."

Angelucci knows gardening. She is a volunteer educator for the Fayette County Master Gardener Program. She is the horticulture chairwoman for the Garden Club of Kentucky and is a past president of the Lexington Council Garden Clubs.

She also likes really big plants, as shown in her role as chairwoman of the Lexington Tree Board.

Angelucci already had two gardening books under her belt: Secrets of a Kentucky Gardener and Secrets of a Tennessee Gardener. Both take a month-to-month approach that tells readers when it's time to plant this or deadhead that. She has written a similar book for Ohio, but it hasn't been published.

She plans to take Grimy into public schools to spread the word about gardening.

Things like composting and the life cycle of plants already are part of the what elementary students are taught.

She wants to enforce that and make sure they know where tomatoes come from.