The Dandelion Seed's Big Dream

by Joseph Anthony, Cris Arbo (Illustrator)

Overview

Building on The Dandelion Seed, where kids learn the life cycle of a plant, the focus now is on the seed's patience and persistence. A larger lesson develops, teaching readers that we can all be more than we ever thought we could. Beautiful illustrations and a simple story make for an excellent graduation gift.

Consider the dandelion. It lives life fully, flies with beauty, survives storms, endures darkness, never gives up. It is one of nature's greatest success stories. Like dandelions, each of us can make the world a brighter place. The trick is to bloom right where we are.

Great for parents or anyone looking for a:

• Kindergarten graduation gift
• book to provide inspiration
• story of life's journey
• book on the life cycle of a plant
• book to help with social emotional skills

Backmatter Includes:

• Explore More: Information and activities about dandelions and weeds, seed dispersal, and the theme of courage, patience, and perseverance.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781584694991
Publisher:	Sourcebooks
Publication date:	09/01/2014
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	32
File size:	76 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	4 - 10 Years

About the Author

Joseph Patrick Anthony was born the tenth of eleven children. His family loved the mountains, so exploring with his brothers and sisters nurtured an innate love for adventure and an appreciation for the natural world. He traveled with the Navy as a trumpet player, worked in a natural food store, as a Corrections Officer, a massage therapist, and a construction supervisor, experiences which have all served to deepen his self-understanding and perspective on the human condition. Joseph's cosmological work, "Our Multi-Tiered Universe," grew out of a desire to help move the planet to a clean energy future. His website is www.JosephPatrickAnthony.com.

Cris Arbo's art is known for intense detail and is inspired by her love and respect for nature. It has appeared in books, magazines, calendars, cards, murals, and in animated feature films, TV shows, and commercials. She has illustrated six nature awareness children's books for Dawn Publications and is also a frequent presenter at schools and conferences. Cris has four daughters and lives in Buckingham, Virginia with her husband, author Joseph Anthony and their youngest daughter, Alina. Many of Cris' favorite hours are spent in the garden.

Editorial Reviews

12/01/2014
PreS-Gr 3—This sequel to The Dandelion Seed (Dawn, 1997) literally begins where the previous volume ends, using the final illustration in that book to begin this story of a dandelion seed's journey. Instead of drifting over idyllic natural landscapes like its predecessor, this seed floats to a city. Rather than falling into "rich, soft earth," the seed ends up in a Styrofoam container in a junk-strewn lot. Only after a clean-up crew arrives in spring to prepare a community garden can the seed put down roots and fulfill its dream of blooming. Minimal text on colorful spreads facilitates group sharing. Two pages of information and suggested activities about dandelion growth, seed dispersal, and related topics will help adults plan ways to extend learning. Together with the original, this book should stimulate discussions of themes, such as patience, beauty, and courage, as well as a debate about a dandelion's status as flower or weed. Libraries without the earlier volume might consider purchasing the pair, although the new book can stand alone.—Kathy Piehl, Minnesota State University Library, Mankato

School Library Journal

2014-07-29
Floating off under its parachute, a dandelion seed makes a difficult journey and lands in an unpromising place, but in the end, it fulfills its dream of making flowers of its own. Anthony and Arbo turn the journey of a familiar weed seed into a parable of perseverance. Detailed pencil-and-paint illustrations show the tiny seed floating off from the lush green countryside and soaring over what appears to be a college town. (Just to underscore the mechanism, hot air balloons are depicted making a similar journey.) But the town buildings and streets, though nearly empty of humans and cars, are not hospitable. There's a sticky spider web, a woman with a broom and a cavernous parking garage. The seed ends up in a discarded yellow Styrofoam container on a trash-filled lot. Winter comes and goes. In spring, an ethnically diverse cleanup crew transforms the area into a community garden; the seed flourishes nearby. An afterword introduces this weed/flower, describing its parts, its history in North America and its potential for classroom studies of plant life cycles. Building on the pair's The Dandelion Seed (1997), this glorifies the seed's patience and persistence, and it makes clear that this well-known plant can be much more than a weed. A simple story with more than one message. (Picture book. 4-7)

Kirkus Reviews