Cardinal and Sunflower

by James Preller, Huy Voun Lee (Illustrator)

On a winters day, a mother and child take a stroll through the park, tossing sunflower seeds along the way. Unbeknownst to them, these seeds start an entire cycle of life around them. One stray seed sprouts into a sunflower, while a pair of cardinals feast on the rest and begin their new family. Weaving together the growth of the sunflower with the development of the cardinals family through the seasons, the evocative poem and expressive collage illustrations gracefully portray the interdependency of all living things.

Genres: Birds

32 pages, Hardcover

First published April 24, 1998

About the author

James Preller (born 1961) is the children's book author of the Jigsaw Jones Mysteries, which are published by Scholastic Corporation. He grew up in Wantagh, New York and went to college in Oneonta, New York. After graduating from college in 1983, James Preller was employed as a waiter for one year before being hired as a copywriter by Scholastic Corporation, where he was introduced (through their books) to many noatable children's authors. This inspired James Preller to try writing his own books. James Preller published his first book, entitled MAXX TRAX: Avalanche Rescue, in 1986. Since that time, James Preller has written a variety of books, and has written under a number of pen names, including Mitzy Kafka, James Patrick, and Izzy Bonkers. James Preller lives in Delmar, New York with his wife Lisa and their three children.

http://us.macmillan.com/author/jamesp...

Reviews

[Stacy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful book. We like the story and the pictures.

[Sarahs Reads ToKids · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book focused more on the life cycle of cardinals then sunflowers. It also showed the benefits of sunflower provided to the cardinals but this was a book more about birds than sunflowers. Which is what I was looking for. But we enjoyed the story about birds

[Erin · Rating 2 out of 5]

I like the illustrations in this book better than the story. A sunflower grows in a park at the same time a family of cardinals is being raised.

Okay for preschool storytimes.