Ten Seeds - Hardcover

Brown, Ruth

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0375806970 ISBN 13: 9780375806971

Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers, 2001

Synopsis

"Ten seeds–one ant. Nine seeds–one pigeon. Eight seeds–one mouse. . . .”
Watch the countdown as seeds and plants disappear until just one beautiful flower remains.

Keep your eyes on the garden as ten seeds are planted, but only one beautiful flower blooms. Thanks to one ant, one mouse, one pigeon, and lots of other creatures (making a total of nine to be exact!), seeds go missing, and plants get eaten. All except the last, which grows a majestic flower and then drops ten seeds so the cycle can begin anew.

In this fresh new take on counting concepts, Ruth Brown uses her lush artwork to showcase the life of a garden as she counts down from ten to one. Ten Seeds, with its light humor and spare text, is a perfect bridge for toddlers and preschoolers ready to step up to more sophisticated stories.

About this title

About the Author

Ruth Brown is the author-illustrator of several picture books, including Snail Trail.

Reviews

PreSchool-K-Cleverly combining simple subtraction with the growth of plants, Brown's plot opens with 10 seeds being snugly planted in rich, black soil. An ant lifts out the first seed, a pigeon picks up the second just as it's beginning to develop rootlets, and a mouse digs the next as it grows longer roots. A slug eats one of the seven remaining seedlings, a mole burrows under one of the six shoots, and a cat claws up the next one. Four small plants are further reduced by one ball, one puppy, and too many greenflies, until a lone surviving sunflower blooms and ultimately produces 10 seeds. With accuracy and charm, the handsome, realistic, double-page watercolor illustrations bring the cycle to life.
Patricia Pearl Dole, formerly at First Presbyterian School, Martinsville, VA
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Learning Made Fun"Ten seeds,/ one ant./ Nine seeds,/ one pigeon." As the countdown begins in Ten Seeds by Ruth Brown, children watch the seeds (then seedlings, shoots and plants) disappear from various encounters. The last seed survives, turning into a sunflower and then dropping 10 seeds so the cycle will begin again. Printed on sturdy stock, the book's full-spread art gives readers an up-close look at gardening.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Ages 3-5. With very few words and bright double-page watercolor illustrations on extra-thick paper, this beautiful counting book about subtraction is also a dramatic nature story about how plants grow and spread their seeds. A young preschooler plants 10 seeds. One ant takes one seed. Then there are nine seeds--and one pigeon. Turn the page and there are "Eight seeds, one mouse." Then there are seven seedlings and one slug. As the plants grow, a bud is taken off by a mole, another by a cat, a ball, a puppy--until there are two buds and too many greenflies. The climax is one big, spreading, gorgeous sunflower and one bee . . . and on the endpapers, a shriveled flower and "Ten seeds!" for the boy to plant, and for kids to count and start again. The book design reinforces the continuity of the garden story and its excitement. As always, Brown's warm, realistic close-up pictures will pull children right in. Kids will almost feel the gritty soil, the squishy slug, the furry cat, the astonishing flower. Hazel Rochman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Edition details

• Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers
• Publication date: 2001
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0375806970
• ISBN 13: 9780375806971
• Binding: Hardcover
• Illustrator: Brown Ruth
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 24