Book
If you hold a seed / by Elly MacKay.
Record details
- ISBN: 9780762447213
- Physical Description: 1 volume (unpaged) : color illustrations ; 30 cm
- Publisher: Philadelphia, PA : Running Press Kids / Perseus Books Group, 2013.
Content descriptions
| Target Audience Note: | Ages 3 and up. |
Search for related items by subject
| Subject: | Seasons > Juvenile fiction. Plants > Growth > Juvenile fiction. Seeds > Juvenile fiction. Plants > Juvenile fiction. |
Available copies
- 1 of 1 copy available at Westcoast Early Learning Library. (Show)
Holds
- 0 current holds with 1 total copy.
Other Formats and Editions
| Location | Call Number / Copy Notes | Barcode | Shelving Location | Holdable? | Status | Due Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Westcoast Early Learning Library | MACK 2013 (Text) | 35200000734595 | Childrens Fiction | Volume hold | Available | - |
| Allard Branch | C MAC (Text) | 37842000571937 | Childrens - English | Volume hold | Available | - |
| Swan River Library | J E MACK (Text) | 33880000597878 | Junior Easy | Volume hold | Available | - |
- Booklist Reviews : Booklist Reviews 2013 May #2
Much like Julie Fogliano's And Then It's Spring (2012), this story is about a boy who discovers the magic of a seed when he plants it in the ground. But first it takes some sun and rain and plenty of waiting . . . and then some more waiting. Little by little, the boy notices buds and tender leaves on a sprouting tree, and a host of insects that make their home in the new growth. As the quiet story cycles through the seasons and the passing yearsâand the continual waitingâboth the boy and tree grow bigger, until the tree is strong enough to hold the boy, and the boy holds one of the tree's seeds, ready to start the magic again. Although the text is less inventive than Fogliano's, the magic of this debut picture book rests in MacKay's diorama-style illustrations. Layered cutouts made from a variety of papers, including semitranslucent Yupo paper, allow soft, warm light to filter through and create luminous, sunlit scenes. Just the right antidote for The Giving Tree. Copyright 2012 Booklist Reviews. - ForeWord Magazine Reviews : ForeWord Magazine Reviews 2013 - Spring Issue: March 1, 2013
The journey of a tree, from seed to canopy, as seen through the eyes of a little boy keeping pace with its growth. The delight here is in the remarkable cut-paper forms that bring each scene to life. Delicate and meditative. Ages three and up.
© 2013 ForeWord Reviews. All Rights Reserved. - Horn Book Guide Reviews : Horn Book Guide Reviews 2013 Fall
After planting a seed and making a wish, a young boy grows, as does the tree his seed becomes. The chocolate-box ending, with the wish revealed as the presumably now-adult boy sits in the tree with his son, reflects an adult sensibility rather than a child's. The illustrations, however, create the impression of 3-D shadow and light and may demand a second look. - Kirkus Reviews : Kirkus Reviews 2013 January #2
A verbal and visual tone poem involving a seed, a wish and time. A text afflicted with grammatical ambiguity ("If you hold a seed / And make a wish, / And plant it in the ground…") and an unlikely claim that "When autumn comes again, / [The tree] will lean into the wind" chronicles the growth of a tree. With it, the book follows the boy who plants it over years and seasons until he sits, an adult, on one of its branches to show another seed in turn to a child. The seeds depicted are just generic blobs, and despite recognizable birds and butterflies in MacKay's paper-collage scenes, her pervasive use of extremely soft focus backgrounds and slow shifts of hue set aside specific depictions of natural detail in favor of a dreamy, abstract evocation of time's passage. Likewise, except for some of the animals, her figures look down, away or off to the side, which will have the effect of distancing viewers--younger ones, at least. MacKay's debut could have used better writing, but artistically, she does show unusual sensitivity to effects of color and light. Nevertheless, next to such artful treatments as The Carrot Seed and And Then It's Spring, by Julie Fogliano and illustrated by Erin E. Stead (2012), it pretty much defines "additional purchase." (Picture book. 6-8) Copyright Kirkus 2013 Kirkus/BPI Communications.All rights reserved. - Library Media Connection : Library Media Connection Reviews 2013 November/December
A patient boy plants a seed and watches it grow slowly into a tree while he grows into adulthood. The text is very simple, yet a bit scattered. The focus is on waiting for the tree, but then the text abruptly switches to watching insects or having wishes come true. The illustrations are also simple, soft, and muted, filled with yellows and greens, creating a calming effect to pass the time of waiting. Overall a decent read, but when searching for a book on growth and waiting, look to other titles. Natalie Karsten, Library Assistant, Stanislaus County Library, Modesto, California. ADDITIONAL SELECTION Copyright 2012 Linworth Publishing, Inc. - Publishers Weekly Reviews : PW Reviews 2013 January #1
Glowing paper dioramas are the heart and soul of MacKay's debut, a quiet, reader-directed contemplation of a seed's slow growth into a tree. In spirit, the story is similar to Julie Fogliano and Erin Stead's And Then It's Spring, though the execution is very much MacKay's own. A small boy first plants the seed, then watches the sapling grow as the seasons pass. With his yellow rubber raincoat and translucent umbrella on a rainy spring day, he looks as though he could have been cut from a vintage greeting card. Patterned and diaphanous papers add depth and textureâin winter, the boy gazes out at the snow from inside a cozy room lined with grapevine wallpaper; on a summer night, his tent is lit from within, the tree now big enough to tower over it. Eventually, the boy becomes a man and the sapling a full-fledged tree ("Season by season,/ Year by year.../ That tree will grow SO LARGE/ It will hold you"), cementing MacKay's message about the value of persistence. Ages 3âup. Agent: Kirsten Hall, the Bright Group. (Feb.)
[Page ]. Copyright 2012 PWxyz LLC - School Library Journal Reviews : SLJ Reviews 2013 April
PreS-Gr 2âMacKay presents a contemplative story about planting a seed and watching-and waiting-for it to grow into a big, strong tree with branches perfect for climbing onto and dreaming. It is primarily a mood piece in which the emphasis is on the artwork. A boy plants a seed, makes a wish, and waits, because "something magical can happen." After the rains follow days of sunshine, a fragile sapling springs up. Waiting and waiting some more, the boy one day discovers "little buds and tender leaves." Summer brings bees or a butterfly, and the tree continues to grow. On through the seasons it thrives, through the cold days of winter, until the next spring when there are enough branches and buds to attract birds. "Season by season [and] year by year," the tree is eventually big enough to hold the boy, now an adolescent. Waiting even longer, the branches can hold yet another generation. MacKay has created her dreamy piece with paper cutouts layered for effect in a paper theater or shadow-boxlike setting. The book will be suitable for quiet one-on-one sharing or perhaps as a bedtime selection.âRoxanne Burg, Orange County Public Library, CA
[Page 136]. (c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
