Friday, October 26, 2012

Seed Magic



Seed Magic
By Jane Buchanan; illustrated by Charlotte Riley-Webb
32 pages, ages 4-8
Peachtree Publisher, 2012

What happens when an old man gives a girl magic seeds? Well, if it’s the old man who feeds pigeons in the park, and the seeds are black-oil sunnies, you can be pretty sure that she’s not going to plant a garden. Especially in the cement-bound city. But it’s a garden that Rose wants. When she closes her eyes she sees “blue lupines, red geraniums, yellow sunflowers, like in her library books.”

Put these seeds outside your window, the birdman says. You’ll grow a garden. So Rose does; she knows that magic seeds can grow anywhere. But the garden she gets is full of feathers, not petals.

Themes: kindness, friendship, trusting in a dream

Beyond the book: Toss some bird seeds on your windowsill, grab your trusty field guide and see who comes to visit. OR pull some old wool socks on over your shoes and walk through a garden or weedy patch to see what sorts of seeds the wild flowers have produced.

This review is part of PPBF (perfect picture book Friday), an event in which bloggers share great picture books at Susanna Leonard Hill's site. She keeps an ever-growing list of Perfect Picture Books. Review copy provided by publisher.

1 comment:

  1. This looks like a fabulous book. I like stories about relationships between older and younger generations. And what magic! A garden full of feathers! We have those kinds of gardens here. They do better than flower gardens in our desertlike conditions. And they bring all that pretty music with them! Thanks for sharing this book. I'll be looking for it.

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