Through the Looking Glass Children's Book Reviews
Miss Maple's Seeds
Picture Book
For ages 5 to 7
Penguin, 2013 ISBN: 978-0399257926
On a bright sun-drenched August day Miss Maple comes flying home on the back of a little blue bird. Soon more blue birds arrive and each one is carrying a basket on its back. In the baskets, nestled in soft beds of grass, are the seeds Miss Maple has been collecting all summer. These seeds are the ones that “got lost during the spring planting.” Miss Maple is going to care for these seeds in her maple tree home and get them ready for the planting season in the coming year.
Miss Maple carefully washes each seed, saying “Take care, my little ones, for the world is big and you are small.” While the weather is still fair, Miss Maple takes her charges on field trips so that they will learn what it means to be a seed. She shows them the river that may carry them to their new home. She travels on the wind to show them the fields and forests.
During the cold winter months Miss Maple and her animal friends gather in Miss Maples cozy little home to eat together and to share stories and songs. In the spring the seeds are introduced to the rain, which they will one day need. Then, at last, the day comes when Miss Maple must “send her seeds off to find roots of their own.”
In this special picture book beautiful artwork is paired with a lyrical text to tell the story of a little lady who appreciates the potential the lies in the seeds she cares for. She knows that each seed, no matter how small it is, has within it the ability to travel far and to do great things.
Children and grownups alike are going to love this gentle and meaningful tale.
