Rooting for You
K-Gr 2—A story about a seed's journey from sprout to bloom. A nervous daisy seed, "safe and sound,/down/down/down/here in the ground," finally becomes bored and decides to begin his travels through soil, meeting a helpful worm and bravely passing a menacing spider. Some pages fold up or out, immersing readers in this underground world. The seed has an expressive, wide mouth and active eyebrows that display trepidation at first, then pride. Peppered with plenty of sound effects ("Youch! Bonk."), Hood's loosely rhyming story focuses on the friendly symbiosis of living things without any scientific words-outside in the "soft warm skies," says the worm, "There are friends to feed you,/friends to weed you,/and friends indeed who/really need you!" Young readers will enjoy the novelty of the format and will relate to the seed's childlike fear of spiders and darkness.—Nora Clancy, Teachers College Community School, New York City