Wait Like a Seed

Written by Erin Alladin

Illustrated by Tara Anderson

Pajama Press 

978-1-77278-359-9

32 pp.

Ages 4–8 

March 2026  

 

Understanding life cycles, particularly of plants, can be a challenge for young children because of the extended time needed for a seed to progress through its stages. Kids may get the idea of a flower but knowing how a flower came to be and what it can produce is far more difficult. Using simple rhyming verses, bold words, and additional info pages, Erin Alladin leads young readers through the parts of a plant and how that plant can produce a new plant or hundreds.

From Wait Like a Seed, written by Erin Alladin, illustrated by Tara Anderson

The story is set up with text and a drawing of the seed or plant as it is developing opposite an illustration of the children, and occasional orange tabby, watching the plant grow. From a seed waiting for the spring rains to fall, through rooting, sprouting, and growing leaves, buds, flowers, and pods, the milkweed plant goes through its life cycle. 

Smile like a flower,

Giving and grand.

Smile like a flower

'Til the butterflies land. (pg. 14)

The children wait and watch and delight in what they get to witness over the seasons, from spring rains to winter dormancy. And because the monarch butterfly is tied to milkweed plants, children can also witness the development of eggs to larvae, to caterpillars and further. 

From Wait Like a Seed, written by Erin Alladin, illustrated by Tara Anderson

While I don't usually review paperback releases of previously published hard copy books, I never got to see Wait Like a Seed when it was released last year. And seeing this new edition, I really wanted to share Erin Alladin's latest. She has a lovely talent of telling stories, particularly those related to the natural world. (See her Outside You Notice, 2021.) By blending the life cycles of the milkweed and the monarch butterfly with the experiences of two young children, Erin Alladin gives us a personal story with which young children may be familiar. And with her rhyming text, she makes an educational book into a charming read with a tempo that balances with the pace of the plant's development.

From Wait Like a Seed, written by Erin Alladin, illustrated by Tara Anderson

But without Tara Anderson 's coloured pencil illustrations, Wait Like a Seed would not have the colour and shape to carry readers effortlessly through the milkweed's life stages. Instead of a book of non-fiction, Wait Like a Seed is the story of two playful children as they swing, pop milkweed pods, build a snowman, and play with their cat. She gives them joy and curiosity.

From Wait Like a Seed, written by Erin Alladin, illustrated by Tara Anderson

I know that teachers and parents will want to use Wait Like a Seed as a teaching tool for life cycles and the seasons, but don't forget the soft poetry that sweeps through the book. It tells its own story of imaginative and educational play, helping children to grow in their own way.

The Weedflower

Written by Elizabeth Davaze
Illustrated by Marianne Ferrer
Owlkids Books
978-1771475884
32 pp.
Ages 4-8
August 2024

In a busy schoolyard, with children jumping and climbing, sliding and clapping, one child sees a plant with a yellow flower growing in the crack between the cement and rubber turf. Only Sam sees it and watches it and sings to it and admires it.

From The Weedflower, written by Elizabeth Davaze, illustrated by Marianne Ferrer

But, as with most living things, the "alien bud" grows. It grows into a tall, bright yellow flower and then it catches the attention of the other children who join Sam to admire the flower. (Or is it a weed?) Not only do they admire it, but they also protect it and nurture it. They stop balls from hitting it and squirrels from nibbling at it. And the flower thrives. "Before long, the entire blossom had changed into one perfect, dreamy fluffball."

From The Weedflower, written by Elizabeth Davaze, illustrated by Marianne Ferrer

But when the adults at the school finally notice the "fluffball flower," they do not appreciate it the way that the children do.

    "They did not see the magic."

From The Weedflower, written by Elizabeth Davaze, illustrated by Marianne Ferrer

After much tugging by many adults, including the large principal, "the weedflower’s roots broke free, the stem came loose, and all the fluff floated away with all the students’ wishes in the breeze." It is only with time that Sam and the other children will see the weedflower has not gone because that fluff was actually filled with the promise of new life.

From The Weedflower, written by Elizabeth Davaze, illustrated by Marianne Ferrer

 Adults may see a plant that is growing where they don't want it whether it be a dandelion in a lawn, or volunteer trees that grow to close to a house's foundation. But children don't see that. Ralph Waldo Emerson, who had much to say about nature, is quoted as saying, "A weed is simply a plant whose virtues we haven't yet discovered” and many children have no problem finding the virtues in the dandelion. They bring home bouquets for their mothers, and blow the dandelion fluff and watch it travel like fairies on wind currents. They delight in their spread on lawns to become fields of green dotted with yellow brightness. (We used to braid the stem and flowers into crowns.) To nurture any plant and have it destroyed for its inconvenience to another would be devastating. Kincardine author Elizabeth Davaze takes the perspective of children seeing the dandelion as a flower, a thing of beauty and wonder, and makes us realize the loss they feel when the weed, according to the adults, is eradicated. It's all about perspective, isn't it? Too bad the adults aren't enlightened enough to realize that the dandelion would not be stopped by pulling one out.

 

Montreal's Marianne Ferrer, whose illustrations I have long admired (e.g., Carmen and the House That Gaudí Built, Racines, and Le Jardin Invisible), knows where to put the emphasis on her illustrations. Green and gold, the dandelion's only colours, along with the brown of the dirt, are the basis of all Marianne Ferrer's artwork in The Weedflower, regardless of whether she's drawing the dandelion or the children. The attention is on the plant, just as the children want it to be. Moreover, her use of watercolour and gouache give The Weedflower its organic texture, prioritizing the natural world. 

 

I know some teachers will use The Weedflower as an introductory story to teach the life cycle of a plant–too many kids don't know that seeds come from flowers–but I think it's a wonderful exploration of perspective and seeing things through a child's eyes to appreciate all living things as extraordinary, even the seemingly lowly dandelion.

A Flower is a Friend

Written by Frieda Wishinsky

Illustrated by Karen Patkau

Pajama Press

978-1-77278-280-6

36 pp.

Ages 3-6

May 2023

Many will be enjoying their gardens this summer whether through their labours or just sitting in the glory that is a collection of blooms and greenery. But Frieda Wishinsky makes us look a little more closely into her garden to see the flowers and their friends.

From A Flower is a Friend, written by Frieda Wishinsky, illus. by Karen Patkau

Page after page of glorious digital art by Karen Patkau brings us up close to the rose and zinnia, cornflower, magnolia, and irises to see the blooms in their bold colours and their dazzling forms. But it's the association with their flower friends that needs to be seen. With each blossom is an insect or a bird, mammal or reptile, or something else, that interacts with the flower.

From A Flower is a Friend, written by Frieda Wishinsky, illus. by Karen Patkau

Frieda Wishinsky and Karen Patkau reveal a variety of mutualistic relationships, with Frieda Wishinsky giving us the ideas and spirit and Karen Patkau giving us the colour and form. There is the periwinkle-hued morning glory with its visiting dragonfly, the mouse in a tulip, and a bat calling upon the crocuses. And in her dual text, one that stipulates what the flowers do and a subtext that has young readers ponder the relationships, Frieda Wishinsky invites children to look more closely and consider how pollination happens, how a flower can draw animals to it, and how both plant and animal can benefit each other.

Spread our perfume.

 

How could a spider 

help the Queen of the Night flower?

 

From A Flower is a Friend, written by Frieda Wishinsky, illus. by Karen Patkau

A Flower is a Friend will be a lovely book for teaching STEM with regards to the growth and changes in plants and the interrelationships of living things. Even though the story is appended with notes on each animal and its role related to the plants, it's the inquiry lessons about these interactions that will fuel discussions and learning.

Coupled with Karen Patkau's illustrations, A Flower is a Friend transforms from creative non-fiction to gorgeous coffee table book that any reader would love to peruse. Her art is created of shapes so curvaceous and colours so vibrant that the garden could be a surreal landscape of the imagination. But Karen Patkau is such a pro at digital illustration that her flowers could almost be photographs. (Her art of the roses almost fooled me into thinking it was a photo.)

 

We know friendships go both ways, and these flowers and their friends demonstrate that they do, helping each other to the benefit of both. There is science behind it, but A Flower is a Friend shows us that there is also great beauty with that science.

The Care and Keeping of Grandmas

Written by Jennifer Mook-Sang

Illustrated by Yong Ling Kang

Tundra Books

978-0-‎7352-7134-0

32 pp.

Ages 3-7

April  2023

 

Many children will be spending time with grandparents this summer when their parents are busy working. It'll be a special time for many of them, being nurtured and loved and experiencing new learning. But when a grandparent moves in with a family that nurturing can go both ways, as both child and grandparent spend time together. Jennifer Mook-Sang's story is all about that special and tender relationship that comes when a grandmother comes to live with her granddaughter's family.

From The Care and Keeping of Grandmas, written by Jennifer Mook-Sang, illus. by Yong Ling Kang

Like the plants her grandma brings with her, a little girl tries to make her grandmother comfortable. After all, adapting to new surroundings can be a little tough at first. And this child is all about making her feel at home. She makes sure she knows where everything is and helps her make her room her own. It takes time to adjust to new routines and new surroundings and the child makes sure her grandmother has what she needs. 

From The Care and Keeping of Grandmas, written by Jennifer Mook-Sang, illus. by Yong Ling Kang

As her grandmother tends to her plants, ensuring they have light and food and water, the child  ensures her grandmother gets what she needs too. It might be noise-cancelling headphones or a playful water fight, but the child watches out for her. Sometimes both grandma and plant struggle, whether wilting from the stresses of the environment or their new circumstances. But love and attention can make it all better. Then the new place becomes home where they belong and fit in and even thrive.

From The Care and Keeping of Grandmas, written by Jennifer Mook-Sang, illus. by Yong Ling Kang

Not all young children are fortunate enough to have an elder move in with them but, though it may be a difficult transition for all concerned, just as it is with transplanting a plant to a new pot or flower bed, it can be incredibly rewarding. I don't know if Jennifer Mook-Sang has ever had a grandmother move in with her family but the openness of her story to the fullness of that intergenerational relationship and the richness of the new circumstances is certainly revealing. Told with much affection and patience, The Care and Keeping of Grandmas is all about making it right for the grandmother, not expecting her to just fit into their situation. The child's understanding of the difficulties and challenges of adapting to a new situation is filled with compassion, and I suspect it is the reason that her grandma eventually finds her place with them. 

Even though there are challenges, illustrator Yong Ling Kang keeps the lightness of Jennifer Mook-Sang's story with her watercolour and pencil artwork. Whether it's the freshness of the plants growing inside or out, or the colourful clothes which they wear, or the scenes of markets and kitchens and bedrooms, Yong Ling Kang keeps everything lively, even if subdued, and bright without being too bold. Her artwork is so reflective of an elder whose life is slowing down a bit and a child who is keeping pace with her to help her fit in.

Transitioning to a new living situation is difficult at the best of times but imagine how difficult it might be when giving up your own home to share one with your younger family. The adjustment would be great and not always successful, as one plant discovers, but with love and time much can be resolved. Ultimately, Jennifer Mook-Sang and Yong Ling Kang show us that this grandma, like many of her plants, will be just fine, perhaps even flourishing.

Sprout Branches Out

Written and illustrated by Jessika von Innerebner

Roaring Brook Press

978-1-250848789

40 pp.

Ages 3-7

January 2023

 

While some young people are happy to stay close to home, there are others who are driven to see what's out there, to take on a challenge of finding their own way and maybe something different and better. This story is for all who wonder about unimaginable opportunities and take the chance to find out.

From Sprout Branches Out by Jessika von Innerebner

Sprout lives on a porch with an assortment of other plants. But Sprout is not growing. She has only two leaves and she is convinced that if she were in the wild with bigger and wiser trees, real light and loads of water then she would flourish. One day, a flyer comes to the house promising a wonderful experience in nature and Sprout packs her bag and says, "Seed ya later!"

From Sprout Branches Out by Jessika von Innerebner

Sprout is encouraged by what she sees in the woods: loads of trees, some so leafy they have beards; animals; bushes; and grass. Then night comes.

She wanted the woods to put leaves on her chest, not make her shake like one!

From Sprout Branches Out by Jessika von Innerebner

 She heads out again, this time reaching an old growth forest where she is sure that with the knowledge of the tall and wise trees she will begin to grow. But their knowledge is far beyond her reach.

Let's dig in so you can hit a growth spurt. We'll start with math and square roots.

Again, Sprout moves on. This time she finds herself in a moist jungle, convinced the excess moisture will do the trick. But it, like the other places, is not what she expects or needs. Of course, this is when she realizes there is no place like home.

Kelowna's Jesssika von Innerebner has illustrated a number of picture books and chapter books, as well as written her own series, Kevin the Unicorn, but Sprout Branches Out is her first book for me to review on CanLit for LittleCanadians. If her wordplay and artwork in Sprout Branches Out is any indication of her talent, then I've been missing out. It's the playfulness of her art and her words that will tickle a young reader–and this old one–while telling a story about growing up and moving on but knowing that home can still be a pretty great place to be. Sprout's innocence is laced with hope for something better but her puns and those of her co-characters take the reader from the serious message to one of laughs. But, Jessika von Innerebner is first and foremost an artist and her illustrations reflect her expertise in bringing images to her message. They are lively and lighthearted and though she may stick primarily with a green palette–appropriate for a story characterized by plants and the wilds of the natural world–she gives us boldness and diversity of colour to show us the richness of Sprout's familiar and unfamiliar worlds.

 

We all know that the grass isn't always greener on the other side but sometimes you have to go take a look so that you can know how green your grass really is. For some, the journey will encourage us to seek out a new life but for others it will be a reminder that growth can happen at home too. (By the way, if your little one decides to start their own sprout, instructions are included.) For Sprout, she had to go out into the wild to come to the realization that home was a good place for her to grow. I guess branching out can sometimes lead to sticking to your roots.

Luna's Green Pet

Written by Kirsten Pendreigh

Illustrated by Carmen Mok

Sleeping Bear Press

978-1-534111615

40 pp.

Ages 5-8

August 2022

 

What is Luna's green pet? Is it a turtle? A parrot? A fish? A frog? It's none of those because Luna's apartment does not allow pets.  Though her friends suggest a rock or a pet-a-guchi, Luna can't seem to connect with them. But, one day, she rescues the perfect pet for her.

From Luna's Green Pet by Kirsten Pendreigh, illus. by Carmen Mok

In a trash bin outside her apartment, she discovers a small plant. It even had its name on a marker: Stephanotis floribunda. Because it's quite a mouthful, Luna calls her Stephanie. And Luna is the best pet caregiver. She transfers Stephanie to a new and bigger pot, gives her new soil, and waters her. She reads stories to Stephanie and even takes her for walks in the park.

From Luna's Green Pet by Kirsten Pendreigh, illus. by Carmen Mok

Luna's friends may not be impressed with Stephanie's personality, but Luna loves her new pet and Stephanie is thriving. In fact, Stephanie grows so much that Luna must shape her long stems into an animal form. But then one day, Stephanie exhibits strange growths and Luna is concerned, ready to take her pet to a botanist for examination, until she learns it's just the natural cycle of life blossoming in Stephanie.

Not every child is fortunate to live in a household where they can have a pet, whether because of building restrictions or familiar limitations with respect to health or finances. But having a pet is a

privilege and one that Luna takes seriously. Her pet may be a plant, but Stephanie gives Luna companionship, offers the child opportunities for responsibility and learning, and nurtures Luna's empathy and self-confidence. By having Luna think outside the box about what a pet can be, BC's Kirsten Pendreigh offers kids an exemplar in problem solving. Luna has a problem i.e., no pets in her building and needs to find a solution i.e., a pet that will be allowed. She finds both a solution and a pet in Stephanie. Even better, hers is a rescue that needed a home and some loving care to become the star Stephanie would become. (I suspect that Stephanie would've been much loved regardless of becoming a winner at the pet parade.) And, if all that goodness wasn't enough, through the miracle of a life cycle, Stephanie's seeds are to be spread further afield to bring joy to others.

From Luna's Green Pet by Kirsten Pendreigh, illus. by Carmen Mok

As a picture book, Luna's Green Pet uses illustrations to help convey the story and bring it to life. Carmen Mok, who has illustrated a number of fabulous books including When I Listen to Silence, Viola Shrink and Tough Like Mum uses a variety of media including gouache, India ink, dry pastel and colour pencil to create her refreshing artwork. Green is a star in Luna's Green Pet, highlighting the importance of flora in the natural world, but Carmen Mok makes sure to use a full palette and soft lines and shapes to draw young readers into Luna's world. Kids may identify themselves in Kirsten Pendreigh's story, but they'll see their lives in the artwork Carmen Mok has created for Luna's world of home, school, and outdoors.

It may be raining or snowing outside right now here in Canada–in fact, where I live it's doing both!–but what better a time to talk to children about growing plants, whether it be as a school project to learn about a plant's life cycle, or in preparation for a spring planting, or as a pet to be loved. With a story to bolster any of that learning and some guidance from Kirsten Pendreigh–she appends her story with some background into Stephanie and growing plants–as well as the brightness of Carmen Mok's illustrations, Luna's Green Pet will get kids clamouring to develop their green thumbs and perhaps look at plants as the engaging living things they are.

From Luna's Green Pet by Kirsten Pendreigh, illus. by Carmen Mok

The Twelve Days of Christmas: A Celebration of Nature

By Briana Corr Scott

Nimbus Publishing

978-1-77471-097-5

32 pp.

All Ages

November 2022

 

It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas out there: snow on the ground, nip in the air and Christmas songs on rotation. It may be a little early for counting down the advent calendar or the twelve days of Christmas–technically between December 25 and Epiphany–but the joy of art in Briana Corr Scott's new picture book is a lovely way to herald the joy of the season in the natural world.

From The Twelve Days of Christmas: A Celebration of Nature by Briana Corr Scott

Nova Scotian artist and author Briana Corr Scott maintains the traditional symbols of the twelve days: the partridge, turtle doves, French hens, calling birds, golden rings, geese a-laying, swans a-swimming, ladies dancing, lords a-leaping, pipers piping and drummers drumming. But she embeds them in a natural world of birds and other animals, playing with the words and their meaning. For example, though the milkmaids are often depicted as young women at their farm task, Briana Corr Scott has eight monarch butterflies working milkweed. The drummers are northern flickers, a common drumming woodpecker of Canada. And the ladies are ladybugs on flowers of echinacea and mums among other plants. The words are familiar, but the images are uniquely of the natural world–as explained by Briana Corr Scott in her afterword–and bustling with the life of the outdoors.

From The Twelve Days of Christmas: A Celebration of Nature by Briana Corr Scott

Briana Corr Scott uses gouache and oil paints to create these lovely double-spreads of ethereal scenes of fauna and flora, often using rose, teal, and gold to emulate the warmth and coolness of nature. As with her earlier books–Mermaid Lullaby, Wildflower, The Book of Selkie, and She Dreams of Sable Island–Briana Corr Scott keeps us in the outdoors, contemplating the interactions between plants and animals and the interrelationship of all living things. This could have been a counting book for young kids–and it could still work that way–or a fun predictable read because of the repetition of lines, but when the detailed art is the highlight, with amaryllis, Christmas cactus, cygnets and more hidden in the illustrations,  The Twelve Days of Christmas becomes the celebration of nature Briana Corr Scott intended.

From The Twelve Days of Christmas: A Celebration of Nature by Briana Corr Scott

Outside, You Notice

Written by Erin Alladin

Illustrated by Andrea Blinick

Pajama Press

978-1-77278-193-9

32 pp.

Ages 4-7

April 2021

How often do we notice things, especially things in the outdoors, that are right under our noses? Erin Alladin wants us to open our eyes, ears, noses and touch the world to know the wonders that our world holds outside, no matter what your outside looks like.

 

From Outside, You Notice by Erin Alladin, illus. by Andrea Blinick

As children and others participate in the world outside, whether it be a backyard, a park, a playground, a sidewalk or something else, there are so many things to check out, and Erin Alladin makes sure we see it all. Each double-spread asks the reader to notice one attribute of nature like the rain, the soil, leaves or colours, and then info boxes provide brief content related to that focus. For example, when asked to notice "How after the rain everything smells greener," we learn about leaves capturing rain, how a tree's canopy provides cover, why the rain can smell like it does, and why plants get the rain they need.

 

From Outside, You Notice by Erin Alladin, illus. by Andrea Blinick

We discover how animals make the outdoors their homes, how they live, and the sounds they make. We learn about life cycles of plants, from seeds and germination, to flowers and fruits. Above ground and below, along water ways and at farmers' markets, there is so much to see and learn.

From Outside, You Notice by Erin Alladin, illus. by Andrea Blinick

With Outside, You Notice, Erin Alladin has invited the reader to explore and make observations and grow themselves into sentient beings beyond the confines of our indoors. She may provide information tidbits that instruct and direct inquiry, so perfect for science lessons with little ones, but she also asks us to be mindful of our worlds. Outside, You Notice gives us the prompts to stop and smell and look and touch in the moment, wherever that moment may be. The experiences will be as diverse as the children who are doing the noticing, and the learning as fulfilling and filling as can be. With that, a calmness will envelop the reader, taking away the bustle and the tech, as the focus is on the world we too often take for granted.

Outside, you notice

The breath in your body

Your feet on the ground

Your self in the world

Toronto artist Andrea Blinick uses gouache, coloured pencils, collage and chalk pastel to create the diversity of textures, colours and shape that convey the sensory nature of the text and take us into the outdoors. The eyes that see, the dog that sprints, the dandelions being picked, the sweetness of a strawberry about to be eaten–Andrea Blinick takes us there, to appreciate and acknowledge the outdoors and its moments.

 

Whether a child of the city or the country, of a place of rain or sunshine, trees or fields or concrete, there is a world of wonder that is the landscape of our lives. With Outside, You Notice inviting us to explore and appreciate the sensations and marvels of the outdoors, young readers can only flourish.

From Outside, You Notice by Erin Alladin, illus. by Andrea Blinick

The Keeper of Wild Words: Guest review

Today's review was written by teacher Elizabeth Cook.

Written by Brooke Smith

Illustrated by Madeline Kloepper

Chronicle Books

64 pp.

Ages 5-8

March 2020

In Brooke Smith’s The Keeper of Wild Words, young Brook looks forward to spending the last day of summer vacation with her grandmother, whom she calls Mimi.  Secretly, Brook is worried that she won’t have anything good to share on the first day of school about her summer.  Even as Brook goes to confide in Mimi, her grandmother asks Brook to help save some of her favourite words from disappearing.

From The Keeper of Wild Words by Brooke Smith, illus. by Madeline Kloepper

Words disappear if we don’t share them when we talk.  If we don’t write them in our stories.  If we don’t read them in our books.  If we don’t use words, they can be forgotten.  And if they’re forgotten...they disappear.

Armed with a list of disappearing words, they set out to find each one. It isn’t long before they spot their first wild word, a wren sitting in a tree outside Mimi’s house.  Brook and Mimi spend the day exploring nature to find all of the wild words to ensure they don’t disappear forever. As they find each wild word, they also take the time to explore. Noting the smells of the flowers, the sounds at the pond, and the taste of freshly-picked mint leaves, Brook and Mimi have a truly magical day as they become Keepers of the Wild Words.

From The Keeper of Wild Words by Brooke Smith, illus. by Madeline Kloepper

At the end of this book, American author Brooke Smith explains her inspiration for this book, which originated with a news article that angered her.  The article listed words that would no longer be in the Oxford Junior Dictionary and included over a hundred words related to nature and the wild.  Even more upsetting to her was the fact that words such as “chatroom”, “database”, and “MP3 player” were being introduced. With an emphasis on technology leaving the wild world behind, it is understandable why such a book is needed for our young readers. Enhanced by Canadian Madeline Kloepper's stunning artwork, created in mixed media and Photoshop, the message about the importance of the natural world is threaded throughout.

As a teacher, I find myself thinking of ways to integrate picture books into my curriculum instruction whenever I can.  The Keeper of Wild Words would be great for a variety of lessons and age levels.  First, it could be used as inspiration for a dictionary hunt.  Moreover, it would be great to take a class walk into your neighbourhood to see how many wild words could be found, which is a great tie-in for science lessons of habitats and biodiversity.

From The Keeper of Wild Words by Brooke Smith, illus. by Madeline Kloepper

I also loved how the artwork emphasized the natural elements. From the petals on the poppies to the starlings in the sky, Madeline Kloepper's illustrations could definitely inspire some fabulous art lessons for all ages. 

Brook loved her day in nature and was excited to share her stories on the first day of school. We should all be inspired to venture outside to accept our own roles as Keepers of Wild Words and use our creativity to put something inspirational back into the world, as did Brooke Smith, thereby teaching our students how to counteract negativity with something positive.

Which wild words will you find today?

~ Elizabeth Cook is a teacher in the Halton District School Board. She is an avid reader and fan of Canadian literature.

Bloom

Written by Kenneth Oppel

HarperCollins Canada

978-1-4434-5031-7

312 pp.

Ages 10-14

February 2020

Many Canadians would recognize Salt Spring Island as a popular tourist destination off the coast of British Columbia. But what's happening on this Gulf Island in Kenneth Oppel's latest middle grade novel, Bloom, would have most running away. Unfortunately, there will be nowhere safe to run.

All teens have their angst but Anaya, Petra and Seth have challenges that are unique. Anaya Riggs may have to deal with acne and asthma but she also lives with severe allergies to just about everything: gluten, dairy, eggs, smoke, dust, pollen, etc. Her former friend and all-around popular girl Petra is allergic to water and cannot allow it to contact her skin without developing a burning rash or hives. New kid Seth Robertson, who has been moved from foster home to foster home, is now living with an elderly couple Mr. and Mrs. Antos on their farm and always wears long sleeves to hide the scars that track up and down both arms. 

Then a hard rain comes down for several days and changes everything. Anaya's allergies improve and her acne clears up. Petra can wash with this rainwater–she collects as much as she can–without any reaction. And a strange black grass begins to grow just about everywhere around the world and at an alarming rate.

Pretty much all anyone talked about now was the black grass. How it was crowding out crops, how nothing killed it. You couldn't go on your phone or turn on the TV without people talking about how it was showing up everywhere, and what was this stuff, anyway? (pg. 50)

Attempts to eradicate the grass by mowing or chainsawing it or applying herbicides or fire are futile or dangerous. Anaya's father, a botanist at the Ministry of Agriculture's experimental farm, is working hard to identify the plant, including those germinated in the water Petra has collected, and even Anaya gets involved collecting soil from the school yard, one of the few sites without the black grass. Soon enough, though, the schoolyard becomes a minefield of pit-plants that swallow prey, whether it be a deer or humans. Oddly, Petra, Anaya and Seth are not affected by the pit-plants' acidic walls or tranquilizing gas emissions.

As Mr. Riggs and a research associate head out to the eco-reserve on Cordova Island where the black grass appears to be dying, the three teens are taken by Dr. Stephanie Weber, a scientist with CSIS, to a military base in Vancouver in the hopes of learning what makes them special and possibly developing a vaccine. But what is discovered about the teens is much scarier than anyone ever anticipated.

The word "bloom" suggests something unhurried and beautiful and captivating. The plants in Bloom are nothing like that. They are aggressively growing, violent in their attacks and devastating in their effects. Worse yet, the last line in the book is a harbinger that more, perhaps even worse, is still to come in the next books in The Overthrow series. (Book 2 in the series, Hatch, is set for a fall 2020 release while we'll have to wait until the summer of 2021 for the final book, Thrive.) Bloom is thrilling and scary, a story with all the hallmarks of an edge-of-your-seat cliff-hanger–although you'd more likely be hanging by vines above a lake rife with machine-gun water lilies–blending a survival tale with an action-adventure involving clashes with dangerous life-forms. 

Though Anaya, Petra and Seth, as well as the parents, social workers, and military, carry the story forward, Kenneth Oppel's plot steals the story. It's bizarre, it's compelling and you can't read fast enough to learn what is happening. Kenneth Oppel may resolve Bloom to readers' satisfaction–we do learn what the plants are and how the teens are different–but there's obviously so much more to their story. I'm looking forward to an even more twisted plot when we revisit the kids and the source of Bloom's plants in Hatch and Thrive.

And Then the Seed Grew

Written and illustrated by Marianne Dubuc

Kids Can Press

978-1-5253-0207-7

32 pp.

Ages 3-7

September 2019

Above ground, a seed falls onto the soil and, observed by a green sprite and a gnome, begins to grow. But its impact below ground is as impressive as what the world sees sprouting above for And Then the Seed Grew is as much about a plant's life cycle as it is about community.

From And Then the Seed Grew by Marianne Dubuc

In a garden above ground live little Jack and Mr. Gnome, though the inhabitants below ground–Yvonne the mole, the Field Mouse family, Paulie the earthworm and Colette the ant–often make their way up there too. When a new seed begins to grow, it sends its root into the bathroom of the mole's home–she has a multi-chamber abode–and blocks Colette's path. Though Yvonne sets to work with her tools to repair the damage, the root continues to grow, repeatedly blocking the ants' paths and even interrupting Susie's birthday party at the Field Mouse home.

The below-ground animals are not pleased with the changes they have to make and are exhausted in trying to deal with the encroaching plant. Yvonne can no longer use her bathroom, the Field Mouse family have to move and the ants are dizzy with the detours they've had to make. Even Mr. Gnome is impacted by the growth of the plant's stem and leaves and now yellow flowers, all virtually trapping him in his house. At an emergency meeting, they agree to cut the plant down. That is, until little Jack helps them see the plant's value in shade, in sight lines and in its newly formed fruit.

From And Then the Seed Grew by Marianne Dubuc

Teachers will find And Then the Seed Grew a charming way to teach a plant's life cycle. From the breaking of the seed coat to the first root and leaves to the flowers and fruit and then seed again, young readers will learn about how a plant grows. And though there are supernatural elements–I have yet to see a sprite or gnome around my tomato plants–there are important lessons about the interrelationship of living things and the complexity of ecosystems below ground. Marianne Dubuc's cutaway illustrations make a segment of the natural world, albeit a fantastic one, up-close and revelatory. But there is so much more to And Then the Seed Grew than just a science lesson.

Marianne Dubuc's story, originally published in French as Le jardin de Jaco (2018),  does much to support Ralph Waldo Emerson's idea that a weed is but a plant whose virtues have not yet been discovered. All the creatures of this community are feeling the impact of a new arrival, so different than anything they've known, but they all benefit from its presence, not the least of which is the building of that community to one of friendships. I know it's just a tomato plant and just a few mythical and some earthly creatures, but And Then the Seed Grew could be an allegory of accepting new members into our community who may be unfamiliar and even initially unsettling because of our own perceptions of their impacts. But, the creatures of And Then the Seed Grew recognize in time that with tolerance comes fruitful blessings. It's a universal lesson of acceptance.

From And Then the Seed Grew by Marianne Dubuc

Sweetest Kulu

Written by Celina Kalluk

Illustrated by Alexandria Neonakis

Inhabit Media

978-1-927095-77-5

32 pp.

Ages 0-6

2014

The baby addressed as Kulu–an Inuktitut term of endearment–is cradled as softly in the embrace of the Arctic's natural elements, floral and faunal, as the book cover above rests in the illustration of its green end papers.  Gently, securely, safely, lovingly.  And the words that are sung to the child from the lulling poetry of the text convey even more the expanse of caring and respect afforded the child in his/her Arctic milieu. 

From the Sun bathing the child in "ribbons of warm light" to the Wind who "had learned your name, charming Kulu, and invited the world to meet you",  Kulu is welcomed by a multitude of visitors that come to greet the child and gift Kulu with positive attributes of being loving, helpful, tender, creative, patient and more.  Each gift bestowed becomes the song the world sings to Kulu "because you are true love."

I can imagine the words of Sweetest Kulu as a lullaby to reassure Kulu to accept the riches of the world and the goodness within to lull the child into the sweetest of slumbers. Author Celina Kalluk is an Inuit throat singer and the lyrical quality of Sweetest Kulu is evident in every verse. Her words are as beautiful as the sentiment with which they are infused.

Adventurous Snow Bunting gifted you seeds from Arctic cotton,
and flowers for you to plant and grow with,
reminding you to always believe in yourself,
happy Kulu. (pg. 8)

I have never heard of artist Alexandria Neonakis, a Nova Scotian illustrator currently residing in California.  Sweetest Kulu is only the second children's book she has illustrated but I suspect that the demand for her artwork will increase exponentially.  Her use of colour and line to create a myriad of textures and feelings, all with an Arctic flavour, are so compelling that I'm convinced the child is perfectly safe at the head of a great muskox or snuggled by a polar bear beside her cub.  

Sweet Sweetest Kulu has just been selected, justifiably so, for the USSBY 2015 Outstanding International Book List, representing the best of children's literature from other countries, only one of 42 books for younger readers from pre-K to Grade 12.  Looks like others have welcomed Sweetest Kulu and the work of Celina Kalluk and Alexandria Neonakis as warmly as the story's child has been embraced.