WAIT LIKE A SEED

Children watch the growth of a milkweed plant and admire the butterflies it attracts.

In quatrains, with the first and third lines repeated, Alladin’s poem describes the life cycle of a milkweed plant from seed through root, sprout, leaves, bud, flower, pod, and back to seed again. This steady progression is interrupted when the pods open with a “pop,” and the wind disperses the seeds. The narrative begins with two light-skinned kids enjoying the spring rain and ends with them playing in the snow that covers the ground in winter, an appropriate reminder of the cycle of seasons in much of North America. The relatively simple vocabulary would be appropriate for burgeoning readers. Anderson’s illustrations, done in colored pencils and pastels, depict the children following the progress of the milkweed shoot, enjoying the flower and the monarch butterflies attracted to it, and admiring the seed’s release and flight. The left-hand side of each spread includes green line drawings documenting the plant’s progress; the right-hand side features a full-page image. Of the many titles available on milkweeds and monarchs, this is one of the most accessible for youngsters reading on their own. Two end spreads illustrate the life cycles of the milkweed plant and monarch butterfly, while older readers and adults will appreciate the extensive backmatter, including a glossary, facts, information on the monarch’s migration, and selected reading.

Useful and enlightening—and certain to have youngsters observing the natural world with wonder.