From Kernel to Corn (Start to Finish)

Describes the process of corn production, including planting the kernels, tending and harvesting the crop, and transporting the corn to the grocery store so that it may be bought and eaten.

Reviewed with Robin Nelson's From Cotton to T-Shirt.

PreS-Gr. 2. These small, square titles in the Start to Finish series give a basic overview of where familiar products come from, written in language that's suitable for beginning readers. Spreads in both books feature a few sentences in large print on a white page opposite a full-page color photo that shows a stage in production, from planting to seed growth to picking and harvesting. Cotton shows how T-shirts are made and includes several stages in the manufacturing process, such as close-ups of thread making, mechanical weaving, dyeing, and cutting. Corn finishes its journey at a farmer's market, although a commercial grocery store would have been more familiar to most young children. But both titles offer solid introductions that will encourage the youngest readers to consider the history of other familiar items. A glossary rounds out each title. Gillian Engberg
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