Recommended Reads

What do seeds look like? In this book, young readers will be introduced to all kinds of seeds from many kinds of plants. Colorful photographs, simple text, and relevant sight words aid readers' comprehension. Children will enjoy reading about how plants grow from seeds, while also building confidence in their reading skills. Included is a page for caregivers and teachers that suggests guiding questions to help aid in reading comprehension.

The charming tale of The Tiny Seed, by beloved author and illustrator Eric Carle, is now available as a Level 2 Ready-to-Read!

Eric Carle’s classic story of the life cycle of a flower is told through the adventures of a tiny seed. Everyone will cheer for the seed’s progress as it floats across the sky, nestles in the ground, and finally grows into the giant flower it was always meant to be.

With his dazzling collage illustrations and lively text in this Level 2 Ready-to-Read, Carle has created a triumphant and fascinating tale!

Beautiful photography and lyrical text pair with comprehensive picture captions in award-winning author Melissa Stewart's story about the surprisingly diverse world of seeds. Learn all about the plant cycle, from how seeds grow, the fascinating ways they travel, and what it takes for a seed to become a plant.

Meet seeds that pop, hop, creep, and explode in this vividly illustrated introduction to the simplest concepts of botany. The story, which is perfect for elementary school Common Core learning, carefully highlights the many ways that seeds get from here to there, engaging children's curiosity with strong action verbs. Stunning photographs with fact-packed captions provide supporting details, explaining the role of seed features and functions in creating new generations of plants. Complete with an illustrated glossary and back matter featuring more resources, this book inspires wonder as it encourages budding botanists of all ages to look with new eyes at plants and their seeds.

Gardeners and farmers plant seeds. What will they grow? Spring is here!ÿCelebrate the season with lovely photos and a simple design that beautifully support early readers.

Take a journey through the seasons and years as we follow the seed’s transformation from a seedling to a sapling, then a young tree, until it becomes a large tree with its branches and roots filling the page.
As the tree grows, it is joined by well-loved woodland creatures – squirrels and rabbits, butterflies and owls – who make it their home. Beautiful and evocative, It Starts With a Seed is a factual story that will touch children with its simple, enchanting message of life and growth.

Sink your teeth into the plants that feed the world--flowers, fruits, seeds, and all!

With its simple text and bright, appealing illustrations, this book is perfect for young readers learning about where their food comes from.

Clearly-labeled diagrams show the different parts of plants we use and eat--leaves of spinach and cabbage, the roots of carrot plants, and the wide variety of fruits, such as apples, berries, and tomatoes. Plants Feed Me explores the different types of seeds we eat-- beans, nuts, rice, and even how wheat is ground into flour and used to make many other types of food.

Smiling children pick fruits and vegetables, and learn how plants grow from seeds, stretching toward the sky for sun and into the earth for nutrients. This celebration of fruits, vegetables, and more is sure to get kids interested in what's on their plates!

Do plants really move? Absolutely!

You might be surprised by all ways plants can move. Plants might not pick up their roots and walk away, but they definitely don't sit still! Discover the many ways plants (and their seeds) move. Whether it's a sunflower, a Venus flytrap, or an exotic plant like an exploding cucumber, this fascinating picture book shows just how excitingly active plants really are.

"With a doctorate in biology, Hirsch understands her subject, but equally important is her ability to communicate with well-chosen words that make the ideas fun and memorable for children. . . . A new way to see the plants around us."--starred, Booklist

"Colorful, exuberant illustrations work impressively with the text. . . . Excellent collaboration produced a winner: graceful, informative, and entertaining."--starred, Kirkus Reviews

In this rhyming poetic picture book, explore the wonders of natural cooperation between plants, animals and insects. Flowers Are Calling by Rita Gray and illustrated by Kenard Pak is "a sophisticated blend of scientific information and artistry" (Publishers Weekly).

Flowers are calling to all the animals of the forest, "Drink me!"--but it's the pollinators who feast on their nectar.

In rhyming poetic form and with luminous artwork, this book shows us the marvel of natural cooperation between plants, animals, and insects as they each play their part in the forest's cycle of life.

From the creator of Maisy, a joyful picture book with a gentle environmental message finds four insect friends in search of a good place to live.

Bee, Ladybug, Beetle, and Dragonfly are looking for somewhere to live. And each has a different want: Bee loves flowers, Ladybug prefers leaves, Beetle is fond of dead wood, and Dragonfly likes ponds. But every time they find what seems like the perfect spot—with beautiful flowers, a tiny pond, some dead wood, or gorgeous green leaves—they discover it’s underfoot, near traffic, or otherwise not safe. Will these four friends ever find a good place? Lucy Cousins brings her bold artwork and endearing characters to an inviting story that leads to a dazzling conclusion, showing children that even in an urban environment, encouraging wildlife and natural ecosystems can create a healthy and beautiful habitat for all of us.

“McCanna's superb scansion never misses...Like its subject: full of bustling life yet peaceful.” —Kirkus Reviews

Acclaimed author Tim McCanna celebrates gardens, nature, and all sorts of critters in this delightful and vibrant read-aloud picture book.

In the earth
a single seed
sits beside a millipede
worms and termites
dig and toil
moving through the garden soil

How does a garden grow? Follow along from seed to sprout to bud to flower as a garden blooms. Worms, ladybugs, millipedes, and more help a garden grow each season. Tim McCanna’s gorgeous, rhyming text, combined with Aimée Sicuro’s stunning illustrations make this charming picture book as informative as it is fun to read aloud.

Bonus backmatter features tons of cool facts about ecosystems and the symbiosis between plants and bugs.

A companion to the new Over and Under the Pond and the beloved Over and Under the Snow, this sweet exploration of the hidden world and many lives of a garden through the course of a year "could not be more lovely," according to the Washington Post. Up in the garden, the world is full of green—leaves and sprouts, growing vegetables, ripening fruit. But down in the dirt there is a busy world of earthworms digging, snakes hunting, skunks burrowing, and all the other animals that make a garden their home. In this exuberant and lyrical book, discover the wonders that lie hidden between stalks, under the shade of leaves...and down in the dirt.

Striking illustrations and a simple narrative celebrate the potential of seeds, literal and metaphorical.

Some seeds are whisked away by the wind, while others are carried by creatures to their destinations. Once seeds find their spot, they go through breathtaking transformations, multiplying in number and size and thriving in even the most unseemly places. We humans plant seeds, too, and with care we can cultivate and nurture something wonderful, whether by sowing a seed in the earth or by choosing our own seeds of kindness to spread around. With gorgeous, welcoming illustrations, the creator of Trees and Birds presents another ode to the beauty around and within us.

* "An enchanting vision." --Publishers Weekly, starred review

From the team behind the gorgeous What Will Hatch? comes a companion book all about seeds and the plants that grow from them--and featuring four pull-out gatefolds.

Seeds can be big or small, round or pointy, and all sorts of colors. They can become flowers, trees, fruits, or vegetables, and they sprout all times of year, during spring, summer, fall, and winter.

But all seeds have one thing in common--inside each is a new plant life waiting to emerge. What kind of plant will bloom? Wait and see what will grow!

Including four gorgeous pull-out gatefolds, this lyrical and stunningly illustrated book includes fun facts about starting a garden.

Awards for What Will Grow?
Texas 2 x 2 List
Kansas NEA Reading Circle
Blue Crab Honor Award Book, Maryland
Wisconsin Cooperative CBC Choice List

Flowers, trees, fruits—plants are all around us, but where do they come from?
 
With simple language and bright illustrations, non-fiction master Gail Gibbons introduces young readers to the processes of pollination, seed formation, and germination.  Important vocabulary is reinforced with accessible explanation and colorful, clear diagrams showing the parts of plants, the wide variety of seeds, and how they grow. 
 
The book includes instructions for a seed-growing project, and a page of interesting facts about plants, seeds, and flowers.   A nonfiction classic, and a perfect companion for early science lessons and curious young gardeners.
 
According to The Washington Post, Gail Gibbons "has taught more preschoolers and early readers about the world than any other children's writer-illustrator."  Ms. Gibbons is the author of more than 100 books for young readers, including the bestselling titles From Seed to Plant and Monarch Butterfly.  Her many honors include the Washington Post/Childrens Book Guild Nonfiction Award and the NSTA Outstanding Science Trade Book Award.
 
From Seed to Plant was included in the Common Core State Standards Appendix B.

Kids see plants, flowers, and trees around them every day. In this lively and educational reader, they'll learn how those plants grow. Kids will take this magical journey from seed pollination to plant growth, learning about what plants need to thrive and grow with the same careful text, brilliant photographs, and the fun approach National Geographic Readers are known for.

"Book introduces the reader to the life cycle of a sunflower"--

How do you make a garden grow? In this playful companion to the popular Tap the Magic Tree and Touch the Brightest Star, you will see how tiny seeds bloom into beautiful flowers. And by tapping, clapping, waving, and more, young readers can join in the action! Christie Matheson masterfully combines the wonder of the natural world with the interactivity of reading.

Beautiful collage-and-watercolor art follows the seed through its entire life cycle, as it grows into a zinnia in a garden full of buzzing bees, curious hummingbirds, and colorful butterflies. Children engage with the book as they wiggle their fingers to water the seeds, clap to make the sun shine after rain, and shoo away a hungry snail. Appropriate for even the youngest child, Plant the Tiny Seed is never the same book twice—no matter how many times you read it!

And for curious young nature lovers, a page of facts about seeds, flowers, and the insects and animals featured in the book is included at the end. Fans of Press Here, Eric Carle, and Lois Ehlert will find their next favorite book in Plant the Tiny Seed.

From a tiny seed to a huge, fold-out bloom, the transformative life cycle of a sunflower plays out in this bold read-aloud.

A Sibert Honor Book!
A Theodor Seuss Geisel Honor Book!

To understand how a seed becomes a sunflower, you have to peek beneath the soil and wait patiently as winding roots grow, a stalk inches out of the earth, and new seeds emerge among blooming petals.

"A seed falls,
And settles into the ground,
And the Sun shines,
And the rain comes down,
And the seed grows…"

Leading up to a striking fold-out spread of a full-grown sunflower, the lively, bold illustrations in A Seed Grows offer a close-up view of each step of the growth cycle.

Additional material in the back of the book explains the science of plant life cycles, and goes into more detail on the ways in which flowers and seeds depend on other creatures.

Antoinette Portis is the author of A New Green Day, a Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year and NCTE Notable Book in Poetry, as well as the Sibert Honor winning Hey, Water!

An American Library Association Notable Children's Book
A CALIBA Golden Poppy Award Finalist
A New York Public Library Best Book of the Year
A Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year
A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection
A Horn Book Fanfare Title

Kadir Nelson, acclaimed author of Baby Bear and winner of the Caldecott Honor and the Coretta Scott King Author and Illustrator Awards, presents a resonant, gently humorous story about the power of even the smallest acts and the rewards of compassion and generosity.

With spare text and breathtaking oil paintings, If You Plant a Seed demonstrates not only the process of planting and growing for young children but also how a seed of kindness can bear sweet fruit.

Follows the progress of a mother and daughter as they plant bulbs, seeds, and seedlings and watch them grow into a rainbow of colorful flowers.

How do you make a garden grow? In this playful companion to the popular Tap the Magic Tree and Touch the Brightest Star, you will see how tiny seeds bloom into beautiful flowers. And by tapping, clapping, waving, and more, young readers can join in the action! Christie Matheson masterfully combines the wonder of the natural world with the interactivity of reading.

Beautiful collage-and-watercolor art follows the seed through its entire life cycle, as it grows into a zinnia in a garden full of buzzing bees, curious hummingbirds, and colorful butterflies. Children engage with the book as they wiggle their fingers to water the seeds, clap to make the sun shine after rain, and shoo away a hungry snail. Appropriate for even the youngest child, Plant the Tiny Seed is never the same book twice—no matter how many times you read it!

And for curious young nature lovers, a page of facts about seeds, flowers, and the insects and animals featured in the book is included at the end. Fans of Press Here, Eric Carle, and Lois Ehlert will find their next favorite book in Plant the Tiny Seed.

Discover the magic—and the science—behind spring flower blooms with this companion to the celebrated Raindrops Roll, Best in Snow, and Full of Fall.

When spring arrives, flowers of all kinds sprout and grow buds and bloom. Sometimes, they bloom a few at a time. But other times, many will bloom at once in a colorful flower boom! This photographic exploration of flowers goes from the desert to the woodlands and beyond, celebrating their beautiful variety and the science behind these colorful displays.