While picking up the books we’d place on hold at the library, a pretty book with spectacular illustrations peeked out at me and demanded my attention. A Seed Is Sleepy, by Dianna Hutts Aston, illustrated by Sylvia Long, is beautiful.
The author begins by telling us “a seed is sleepy” and where the seed might sleep. She then goes on to tell how seeds are secretive, fruitful, naked and even adventurous.
The children in my nature study homeschool co-op class laughed riotously to learn that the hamburger bean floats. They also wanted to know if hamburger beans made hamburgers…ah, the humor of a 7 year old! The children also loved learned, in the author’s ever so polite way, about how a seed is inventive and can “tumble through a bear’s belly.” This actually opened up a whole conversation about how seeds can be eaten, sent through the digestive system and “deposited” sometimes miles away from the parent plant.
The book ends with the seed awakening, oh! and such an awakening! The children relished this book. Once I’d finished reading it, they all immediately wanted to pour over the pages independently. This book is worthy of a space on a home library’s shelved.
Idea for an Add-on Tie-in: Using a plastic sandwich bag half-filled with damp soil, place corn seeds between the plastic and the soil so it can be viewed from outside. Place three seeds, one upright, one side-ways and one upside down. Tape the bag to a sunny window and watch God’s work at hand over the coming several days!
