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42nd out of 52 books
—
13 voters
To Be Like the Sun
Withinevery tiny seedlies the secret of what's to come. First a shoot, then a stem, a leaf, a bud--and finally a brilliant sunflower reaching high for the sun. Join a young girl as she waters and watches, celebrating the everyday miracles of growth andlife....more
Hardcover, 40 pages
Published
April 1st 2008
by Harcourt Children's Books
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This book is really an ode to sunflowers. It contains the promise of summer a little striped seed holds in the middle of winter, the anticipation of planting it, and the reward of watching it grow tall and finally burst forth, a little sun itself that follows the path of the celestial sun every day and feeds the birds with its harvest. I felt myself carried along in wonder with the little-girl gardener in the story. The illustrations matched the text well and were rendered just as artistically....more
Written and illustrated by Susan Marie Swanson, this picture book is the perfect introduction to teach children about gardening or farming or the general growth cycle in the chain of life. The last line of the book echoes the title in the sweet prose as told from the eyes of a child watching the growth of a sunflower, "I remember how hard you worked to be like the Sun". So sweet! Perfect for a quick story time with an activity.
cool artwork. Nice words:
"my hoe breaks apart
the clods of brown earth
but you do the real work
down in the dark
not radish work or pumpkin
not thistle work-
sunflower work.
All the instructions
are written in your heart.
Ella held a sunflower seed while we read the book. I let her eat one and then we planted another in our garden. It has sprouted.
"my hoe breaks apart
the clods of brown earth
but you do the real work
down in the dark
not radish work or pumpkin
not thistle work-
sunflower work.
All the instructions
are written in your heart.
Ella held a sunflower seed while we read the book. I let her eat one and then we planted another in our garden. It has sprouted.
Evokative poetic language and wonderfully illustrated. Good for harvest, spring, weather, garden and patience preschool units. Good read aloud.
A poetic look at sunflowers through the seasons. Large, vibrant illustrations would be good for group sharing.
We like to plant seeds so my girls enjoyed this one. The rhyme is a little above their vocabulary level so it could be read again later, but the bright colors were definitely alluring.
This is a very cute book to use an introduction to plants.
"seeds, sunflower, garden, seasons"
Bright lovely pictures.
Jul 12, 2010
John
added it
A nice storytime read!
This picture book spoke to me in many ways. I love sunflowers and we always try to plant some. For some reason this year, we only got ONE of the giant ones. I like how the book talks about the seed, that it is a living thing, almost with ears and understanding. I like that the little girl saved a picture of her sunflower to look at in the winter and remember. This is something I'm trying this winter, to look at pictures of my summer and remember the warmth to get me through the long winter.
I'm a dedicated gardener and love sunflowers, so this book has a lot of appeal for me. The art work is beautiful and creative. But the text is a bit too "circle of life" icky-sticky for me.
A line like "all the instructions are written in your heart" or "a bud like hands closed tight around a treasure" may be poetic, but poetic-smoetic, it's language with more appeal for an adult than a child.
I like this one, but for a story hour, I'd rather read Sunflowerby Miela Ford.
A line like "all the instructions are written in your heart" or "a bud like hands closed tight around a treasure" may be poetic, but poetic-smoetic, it's language with more appeal for an adult than a child.
I like this one, but for a story hour, I'd rather read Sunflowerby Miela Ford.
Loved the illustrations. Story was just so-so.
This caught my eye as I was going to check out at the library. I loved the images and the idea in the text of the seed containing the knowledge of the sunflower, but wasn't in love with the entire text.
it didn't hook me but it is a tender, well told story about a girl who plants a sunflower and cares for it during its lifecycle.
A lovely book for any sort of plant study.
Apr 18, 2013
Christie
marked it as to-read
Feb 17, 2013
E
marked it as to-read
Dec 16, 2012
Guen
marked it as to-read
Oct 31, 2012
Kate Shea
marked it as for-owen
Aug 09, 2012
Amanda Bales
added it
Jul 18, 2012
Angela
marked it as to-read
Jul 18, 2012
Dana
marked it as to-read
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