A Seed Is Sleepy

by Dianna Hutts Aston, Sylvia Long (Illustrator)

Overview

Award-winning artist Sylvia Long and author Dianna Hutts Aston have teamed up again to create this gorgeous and informative introduction to seeds. Poetic in voice and elegant in design, the book introduces children to a fascinating array of seed and plant facts, making it a guide that is equally at home being read on a parent's lap as in a classroom reading circle.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780811855204
Publisher:	Chronicle Books
Publication date:	03/01/2007
Series:	Family Treasure Nature Encylopedias Series
Pages:	40
Sales rank:	184,108
Product dimensions:	9.45(w) x 11.30(h) x 0.50(d)
Lexile:	AD750L (what's this?)
Age Range:	5 - 10 Years

About the Author

Dianna Hutts Aston's previous books include An Egg Is Quiet, When You Were Born, Loony Little, and Bless This Mouse. She lives in Texas Hill Country.

Sylvia Long is the illustrator of many best-selling books for children Her previous books include An Egg Is Quiet, Sylvia Long's Mother Goose, and Snug As a Bug. She lives in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Editorial Reviews

"This introduction to seeds and plants uses simple sentences that will stretch children's minds and imaginations . a wonderful addition to units that focus not only on seeds and plants, but also on writing and the language arts." School Library Journal,Starred Review

"...will pull children into basic botany...and encourage kids to wonder about the plant world's mysterious, gorgeous spectrum of possibilities." Booklist, March 15, 2007

From the Publisher

Favorite series and successful formats come to the fore this spring. In a starred review of An Egg Is Quiet, PW wrote, "Like the subject matter it describes, this book packages with understated elegance the substantive matter found within it." The same could be said of its companion, A Seed Is Sleepy by Dianna Hutts Aston, illus. by Sylvia Long. A similar approach contrasts fruit seeds ("A seed is fruitful"), from Papaya seeds to a Texas barberry, with the majestic redwood ("Who would guess that a seed as small as a freckle would grow into the world's tallest tree?") and the ancient seed of an extinct date palm tree found in Israel-when planted, "it sprouted!" Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

Gr 1-4 - Another contemplative look at the natural world from the pair who created An Egg Is Quiet(Chronicle, 2006). This introduction to seeds and plants uses simple sentences that will stretch children's minds and imaginations. Each spread is devoted to the seed's many attributes, including adventurous, inventive, generous, ancient, and clever. The text then builds on these descriptors with interesting facts: "It knows to seek the sunlight...." The author does not shy away from words that children may be unfamiliar with; rather, she constructs sentences that define these words in terms that children can understand: "Not all seeds are eager to germinate. Some have lain dormant, or slept undisturbed, for more than a thousand years." Long's ink-and-watercolor sketches, full of rich color and intricate detail, merit high praise. Readers not yet familiar with cursive writing may experience some difficulty deciphering portions of the text independently, but this book is a wonderful addition to units that focus not only on seeds and plants, but also on writing and the language arts.-Maura Bresnahan, High Plain Elementary School, Andover, MA

Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information

School Library Journal