Potatoes on Rooftops: Farming in the City by H. Dyer

Urban Farm DB summary

This is a review of Hadley Dyer's "Potatoes on Rooftops: Farming in the City" (Annick Press, Toronto, 2012). Although marketed by the publisher for grades 4–7, the reviewer finds the actual reading level higher — Tenth Grade on the Coleman-Liau Index and 9.2 on the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level test. Despite a children's-book design, the content is dense and textbook-like, moving from an introduction on food and the need for urban agriculture through small- and larger-scale urban agriculture examples to related social and political movements, with a glossary, resource list, and index. The Toronto-based author received Ontario Arts Council funding, but the review notes little Canadian content, with the book's apparent market being the United States; it cites international examples including Africa, Japan, and Scotland but says little about the practicalities of urban gardening in Canada, where growing conditions differ sharply by region (e.g., Florida vs. Edmonton). The review rates the book 3 out of 4 stars, recommending it for high school and public libraries and noting it is most useful for teen and adult readers.