Review by Booklist Review
Part of the delight of this book is trying to figure out what is going on, which becomes progressively clearer with every well-employed foldout spread. To cut to the chase, it's about a smiley-faced little green seed who is intent on staying right there in the cozy soil: I am NOT coming out! But the seed gets bored and sends out one tiny exploratory shoot cue the foldout pages that show the root stretching until it hits a rock. A twisty worm appears, though, to help the root find its way, advising it that while there may be scary things out there, there also may be soft warm skies and adventures of all kinds. The green shoot finds the courage to push through, and in a final three-page-tall burst, it reaches into the sunny day to become a daisy. It's an overall wonderful lesson in moving out of fear and inertia and into exploration and growth, with big Mo Willems-style art that makes simple shapes into highly emotive characters and backgrounds. This one will grow on you.--Fletcher, Connie Copyright 2014 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
"I am NOT coming out!" says a tiny lime-green seed nestled deep within the warm brown earth. Because, really, who knows what awaits in the world above? But with the encouragement of an astute, bespectacled worm ("There are friends to feed you,/ friends to weed you,/ and friends indeed/ who really need you!") and the visual propulsion provided by a series of sweetly comic gatefolds (including one that's both horizontal and vertical), the seed overcomes the real and perceived obstacles in its path and triumphantly assumes its role as the garden equivalent of a BMOC. Hood's (Spike, the Mixed-up Monster) writing occasionally slides into graduation speech territory ("Get going, get growing!/ Your whole life awaits!"), but between the worm's cheerleading and Cordell's (hello! hello!) cheery, minimalist cartoon evocation of the underground world, the seed's journey feels like a real accomplishment. Of course, any relationship between the seed's emergence and that of a human baby are strictly coincidental. Ages 3-5. Author's agent: Brenda Bowen, Sanford J. Greenburger Associates. Illustrator's agent: Rosemary Stimola, Stimola Literary Studio. (Mar.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
K-Gr 2-A story about a seed's journey from sprout to bloom. A nervous daisy seed, "safe and sound,/down/down/down/here in the ground," finally becomes bored and decides to begin his travels through soil, meeting a helpful worm and bravely passing a menacing spider. Some pages fold up or out, immersing readers in this underground world. The seed has an expressive, wide mouth and active eyebrows that display trepidation at first, then pride. Peppered with plenty of sound effects ("Youch! Bonk."), Hood's loosely rhyming story focuses on the friendly symbiosis of living things without any scientific words-outside in the "soft warm skies," says the worm, "There are friends to feed you,/friends to weed you,/and friends indeed who/really need you!" Young readers will enjoy the novelty of the format and will relate to the seed's childlike fear of spiders and darkness.-Nora Clancy, Teachers College Community School, New York City (c) Copyright 2014. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
Readers are told "I am NOT coming out!" by a seed that's afraid to send out its shoots. Encouraged by a friendly worm and other underground animals, the seed tentatively begins to grow. The theme is universally relatable, and the book has clever gatefolds and orientation shifts that will engage readers. Cordell's illustrations pair wonderfully with the upbeat, occasionally rhyming text. (c) Copyright 2014. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
A flower-to-be, looking like a green pea and behaving just like a human preschooler, voices its fears about its inevitable transformation. There's the dark. ("You never know / who might be digging / in the DARK.") There's the equally scary-seeming light looming above. With bona fide impediments like rocks and spiders popping up, young readers should develop real empathy for the little plant during its complex transit. A bespectacled worm offers encouragement and reassurance, flanked by ants and beetles. "There are friends to feed you, / friends to weed you, / and friends indeed who / really need you!" A series of gatefolds serves to reinforce the sense of expansiveness of soil and, later, blue sky, as the seed-turned-sprout grows into a towering, daisylike flower. Cordell uses a flat, matte color palette of browns, greens, worm-pink and sky blue, with thick black line for details. He preserves the plant's personality throughout its growth spurt, successively using the same pale green hue and facial expressions for the seed, sprout and the flower's center. Hood's rhyming text is charming, but the final gatefold, a full three pages tall, must be folded away and turned before its verse can be concluded on the final spreada slight detraction from the flow. As sweet and benign as a summer daisy. (Picture book. 3-5)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
