The seedling that didn't want to grow

In Teckentrup's (My Little Book of Big Questions) story about a single plant, collage-style spreads show a field of seedlings springing up in a sunlit spring meadow. Two animal characters, Ant and Ladybird, notice that one seed hasn't sprouted: "Let's just sit next to her and wait. Maybe she needs more time," they decide. Under Ant and Ladybird's thoughtful supervision, the plant sprouts, grows, and starts to creep through the undergrowth, dense and vine-like as it searches for sun, joined by "the animals of the meadow." Some of the plant forms are simple and graphic, but as the growing seedling reaches the light, she blossoms in a baroque flush of delicate blue flowers, visited by birds, butterflies, and insects before fading to an autumnal gold, scattering seeds "far and wide," and drying in a gentle representation of death. The animals, gathered on one side of the page, tell their friend goodbye. But when winter is over, seeds spring anew, and the cycle starts again. Without sentimentality or special effects, Teckentrup makes readers feel nature's significance by zeroing in on a very small corner of it. Ages 3--7. (Mar.)

A seedling flourishes in her own time, with some loving support along the way. Teckentrup's newest picture book details the tranquil story of a misfit plant finding her path to the sunlight. Straightforward, lilting text describes a little plant's growth from delicate seedling to "the happiest summer plant there could be" after winding her way through the "tall and straight" spring and summer undergrowth of a northern temperate meadow, helped along by a loving community of insects and field mice. Under the patient care and encouragement of Ant and Ladybird, the shoot is encouraged, twining in and out amid the other plants, while allowed to grow in her own time, and her own way, until she is "full of love and life." The author's richly textured, luminous illustrations draw on seasonal color palettes and varying compositions to carry readers through the life cycle of the unspeaking protagonist. Lightly stylized to suggest cut-paper collage, the semirealistic depictions of butterflies, bees, and songbirds are recognizable while remaining poetic. A sweet ode to taking one's time to find the right place to blossom, the story comes to its zenith with a warm, vertical double-page spread showing the no-longer-little plant in full bloom, fluttering with life and glowing under a hazy, late-summer sun. Bursting with verdure and pollinators, a gentle love letter to late bloomers emphasizing the beauty of biodiversity. (Picture book. 4-8) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.