Little Seasons: Spring Seeds

by Mirka Hokkanen, Mirka Hokkanen (Illustrator)

Overview

A funny and informative nonfiction picture book introducing the life cycle of seeds and exploring the season of spring, including interactive back matter.

Discover how seeds spring into action! As winter warms into spring, the amazing life cycle begins—seeds root and sprout and start to grow. From tiny carrot seeds to big avocado seeds and everything in between, discover what seeds can do in this pitch-perfect picture book for younger readers. With clear, informative text and bright, charming illustrations, as well as lots of hilarious interjections from the seeds themselves, this is an exciting start to a new nonficton picture book series exploring life cycles and the seasons.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250885609
Publisher:	Odd Dot
Publication date:	02/06/2024
Series:	Little Seasons
Pages:	40
Sales rank:	860,949
Product dimensions:	8.35(w) x 8.25(h) x 0.35(d)
Age Range:	2 - 6 Years

About the Author

Mirka Hokkanen is a Finnish-American author, illustrator and printmaker, who creates nature centric art with a mission to bring joy. Her first illustrated book, Four Otters Toboggan: An Animal Counting Book, came out in March 2019, and her second book, Harmony Humbolt: The Perfect Pets Queen, published in August, 2021. Mirka has four more books scheduled to release in 2023-2024 with Candlewick and Holiday House. When not creating a menagerie in the studio she takes care of the zoo she has at home: three kids, a cat, a hamster and a husband.

Editorial Reviews

01/01/2024

PreS-Gr 2—A "yummy rainbow" of fruits and vegetables is presented in this cheerful rendering of the plant cycle. From small seeds like broccoli, cabbage, and cauliflower to big ones like peach and avocado, the wide-eyed seeds are shown slurping water through straws underground and measuring their shoots and leaves on a ruler, while equally appealing fully grown fruits and vegetables hang out with friends and family. Brightly colored illustrations of potatoes and turnips growing underground, pumpkins and squash growing above ground, and beans and peas growing on vines are all included; familiar tree fruits such as apples and oranges, however, are only shown in group pictures. Funny asides like "Sometimes you eat the seeds instead of planting them" produces a cry of "Whaaaat!?! You've got to be kidding me!" from a group of seeds jumping rope together. Approximately one-third of the book is educational back matter and activities to be done with a caregiver's help, including a seed cycle diagram, instructions on planting seeds, a taste test, sorting and math activities, ways to explore the outdoors, seed art and music, and a removable memory game. There are some similarities between this book and Jory John's The Bad Seed, in particular the illustration of the sunflower seed, which is almost exactly the same. While anthropomorphizing the seeds is part of the illustrator's style, the similarities are too strong not to notice, and readers who have read both books will almost certainly see the resemblance. VERDICT An imaginative book about plant life for younger readers.—Sue Morgan

School Library Journal