Seeds! Seeds! Seeds!

Children's Literature

Grandpa sends Buddy a package with five bags in it. There are instructions with each bag. The first bag has glue, markers, a piece of paper and a bag. Inside the bag are seeds. Grandpa's instructions are to glue the seeds onto the paper and label them. This is the beginning of Buddy's seed collection. He even adds seeds to his collection from his snacks. The second bag contains cards with pictures of a seed germinating. The third bag has sunflower seeds for Buddy and some sunflower seeds for the birds. He saves one of the seeds for his chart. The fourth bag contains supplies to decorate a picture frame. The fifth bag contains seeds to plant. Buddy pours soil into a bottle, sprinkles seeds on top and covers them with soil. He waters the seeds and then waits. Buddy has another snack and adds those seeds to his collection too. Buddy is very patient and his seeds germinate and grow. Cut paper illustrations and photographs of seeds illustrate this story. 2004, Marshall Cavendish, Ages 3 to 8.
—Kristin Harris

School Library Journal

PreS-Gr 2-Buddy Bear gets a package from Grandpa that contains five bags of different activities with seeds. From them, he learns how seeds grow, plants some, glues down and labels some others in a collection, decorates a picture frame with beans, and feeds the birds. His collection grows through the week as he saves seeds from various foods that he eats. The artwork consists of cut-paper collages with shadowing and life-sized photos of real seeds that look as though they can be picked right off the pages. The story is entertaining and educational. The theme and pictures will appeal to children, although the text is a little lengthy for beginning readers. Pair this with Ruth Krauss's Carrot Seed (HarperCollins, 1945) and Eric Carle's The Tiny Seed (S & S, 1991). An excellent pick for information and enjoyment.-Sandra Welzenbach, Villarreal Elementary School, San Antonio, TX Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.