  | Full Text Reviews: School Library Journal - 12/01/2016 PreS-Gr 1—Matheson's latest interactive picture book follows zinnias from seed to flower. The author asks listeners to press, count, clap, and tap to summon sun and rain, which help the seedlings grow. Small garden animals, including a worm, bees, a snail, and hummingbirds, appear as the three flowers bud and bloom. Observant viewers can spot a ladybug on each spread. White backgrounds and minimal text make this a strong option for sharing with groups as well as with individuals, although some patches of uneven rhythm and rhyme might cause read-aloud stumbles without practice. Instructions for growing zinnias will encourage additional reader participation. VERDICT Sure to engage listeners by calling for their active responses, this is a top choice for collections serving the youngest readers and nature lovers.—Kathy Piehl, Minnesota State University, Mankato - Copyright 2016 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission. Booklist - 02/01/2017 This book, about how a garden grows, continues Matheson’s tradition of interactive picture books, begun in Tap the Magic Tree (2013). Each page describes simple actions, some more active than others (“There’s magic in this tiny seed. Press it down and count to three.”). The referring presence of a watering-can spout reminds us when human effort is required to help a garden grow; it disappears from the page when nature is the only agent (the cold, the sun, the rain). The simple text moves across both pages as the seeds grow into beautiful flowers, though the rhyme scheme is more successful with some phrases than others. Careful viewers will follow the progress of a ladybug as it travels across each page and onto a flower, even while they’re told to watch for a worm. The illustrations become more plentiful and colorful as the flowers grow, mirroring the naturally occurring miracles of real gardens. Pair with Kate Messner’s Up in the Garden and Down in the Dirt (2015). - Copyright 2017 Booklist. Loading...
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