How a garden enthusiast is inspiring children to fall in love with reading

WBUR | By Here & Now Newsroom

Published February 26, 2026 at 11:57 AM EST

The cover of "See Marcus Grow" beside author Marcus Bridgewater. (Courtesy of Rob Greer)

Teachers, parents and caregivers are reading aloud the same book on Thursday as part of a national “Read for the Record” effort to increase awareness about early literacy.

Here & Now‘s Indira Lakshmanan speaks with Marcus Bridgewater, also known as the social media sensation “Garden Marcus,” about his picture book “See Marcus Grow” being selected for the event. His goal is to teach kids life lessons he learned from gardening with his grandma.

Book excerpt: ‘See Marcus Grow’

By Marcus Bridgewater

This article was originally published on WBUR.org.

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