Jack Wong on All That Grows

In this post, we feature author and illustrator Jack Wong, whose previous titles include When You Can Swim, which won the Boston Globe–Horn Book Picture Book Award, among many other honors. You can hear him speak about his new picture book, All That Grows, which he also illustrated. You can also try his “invitation to imagine” activity and find other resources to explore. Thanks for joining us, and let us know what you think in the comments below!

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All That Grows

• Written and illustrated by Jack Wong
• Published by Groundwood Books, an imprint of The House of Anansi Press
• Release date: April 2, 2024

On their neighborhood walks together, a boy learns from his older sister all about the plants they see—magnolias that smell like lemon cake, creeping weeds that used to be planted for decoration, and even how dandelion greens can be eaten with spaghetti! But what makes a plant a flower, vegetable, or weed, anyway? How can his sister tell, and how does she know so much? The boy’s head spins as he realizes how vast the universe is and how much there is to learn. But then, he resolves to let his knowledge grow in its own way and time, just like the mysterious plants he has decided to nurture in the garden. Award-winning creator Jack Wong brings us a delightful, nuanced story about cultivating patience and letting knowledge grow.

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Explore All That Grows

Listen to Jack Wong talking with TeachingBooks about creating All That Grows. You can click the player below or experience the recording on TeachingBooks, where you can read along as you listen, and also translate the text to another language.

• Listen to Jack Wong pronounce his name.
• Sample an e-book of All That Grows on Overdrive.com.
• Explore TeachingBooks’ collection of activities and resources for All That Grows.

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Invitation to Imagine

Imagination Activity with Jack Wong

All That Grows is about plants and gardening, but it’s also a book about learning, and all the feelings that can come with it (like feeling nervous, uncertain, or “overwhelmed”). Can you think of something you’d like to learn, but you feel nervous or uncertain about it?

Here’s an exercise: Think of something else you’ve already learned—something you’re now good or even an expert at. How did you learn that thing? Did it take a short or long time? Did it take lots of work, or did it come naturally? Whichever way you did it, it’s proof that you’ve gone through the process of learning something before! Now go back to the thing you’d like to learn next. What are your feelings about that thing now?

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Finish This Sentence . . . with Jack Wong

“My favorite books as a child were…”

My favorite books as a child were often not stories, but informational books about science. I liked them so much that one summer, I was even inspired to write my own encyclopedia of “The Rodents of North America.” I quit after my first entry, “Beaver.” Looking back at that project, I loved my subject, but it was a lot of work to research and write something that’s 100% accurate and complete. Years later, I’m still interested in all the same things, like science and nature, but writing a story allows me to mix and match tidbits of info in my own way!

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Thank you!

To wrap up this Virtual Book Tour, we thank Jack Wong for signing a book for all of us.

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More Connections to Jack Wong and All That Grows

• Discover books like All That Grows on TeachingBooks.
• Groundwood’s page about All That Grows, written and illustrated by Jack Wong.
• Buy All That Grows, written and illustrated by Jack Wong.

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Explore all of the titles featured in the TeachingBooks Virtual Book Tour: one link with author interviews, lesson plans, activities, and more!

All text and images are courtesy of Jack Wong and Groundwood Books and may not be used without expressed written consent.