It’s no stretch to say that these three books will plant new ideas in young readers’ minds.

“Miss Lady Bird’s Wildflowers: How A First Lady Changed America” (HarperCollins, $16.99) is a feel-good book about President Lyndon Johnson’s widow and her colorfilled vision. As the book for 7- to 10-year-olds tells it, Lady Bird planted a garden after her daughters were born, “But in her heart she wanted flowers for every child, not just her own.”

After decades of trying to find ways to beautify America, at age 70 Lady Bird Johnson helped establish the National Wildflower Research Center, the book explains. And it explains many other things, too. Written by Kathi Appelt with lovely illustrations by Joy Fisher Hein, the book is an engrossing and exciting look at someone famous who went out of her way to make a difference in this country.

The wildflower center was renamed Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center – no surprise, considering that she has spent much of her life dedicated to helping people’s lives flower.

For early readers, “Seeds” (Atheneum, $15.95) tells the varied stories of one of nature’s biggest miracles. Ken Robbins produced both text and photographs for the book, which makes kids think about something they’ve probably ignored or taken for granted.

Almost everybody has seen maple tree “whirlybirds.” The wings of those seeds, almost nobody knows, are called “samaras.” That’s one of the many facts Robbins shares.

Some of the information he relates is relatively obvious; we all learn at an early age that oaks come from acorns. But other tidbits we think about less often, even as adults. Raspberries and blackberries, Robbins tells readers, are actually “clusters of sweet and juicy beads” that often drop to the ground and take root.

Robbins’ text is a delicate balance between simple words such as “fruits” and more difficult terms, such as “sticktights” and “lotus.” The balance makes the book comprehensible but still challenging.

More advanced concepts are introduced in “The Prairie Builders: Reconstructing America’s Lost Grasslands,” with text and photos by Sneed B. Collard III. A story about how scientists managed to recreate a long-lost environment, this book (Houghton Mifflin Co., $17) combines a narrative rich in details with photographs full of wilderness beauty.

Whether it’s explaining how a nearly extinct butterfly was re-introduced to its old habitat, or focusing on the surprising need for fire in a true prairie, Collard is thorough and clear as he documents.

Seldom has the need for understanding ecology been more persuasively presented than in these childrens’ books. They all present the evidence that growth is necessary in every sense in this world.

– Lois Henderlong is a freelance writer who has reviewed children’s books for publications across the Midwest. She lives in La Porte, Ind., and can be reached at loisirene@csinet.net.