A Wish Is a Seed

by Jessica Young, Maria Cristina Pritelli (Illustrator)

Overview

When a child makes a wish, where does it go? Like a tiny seed carried on the wind, a wish journeys through adversity, takes root, and grows.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781568463384
Publisher:	Creative Company, The
Publication date:	02/25/2020
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	8.95(w) x 12.30(h) x 0.60(d)
Age Range:	6 - 8 Years

About the Author

Jessica Young is an art teacher and has worked as a curriculum consultant. This is her first book. She lives in Nashville, Tennessee.

Catia Chien has illustrated numerous books for children including The Sea Serpent and Me by Dashka Slater and The Longest Night: A Passover Story by Laurel Snyder. My Blue Is Happy is her first book with Candlewick Press. Catia Chien was born in Brazil and currently lives in California.

Editorial Reviews

2020-01-12
Who hasn't wondered where a wish goes?

In this airy musing, a wish floats on the wind like a maple seed. The wish takes a breathtaking journey, sailing over water, drifting through canyons, gliding down streets and along roofs, weaving among raindrops. Then it tumbles to the ground and waits, very still. At just the right time, "it sends down a silent root / and pushes up a hopeful shoot." The shoot, in turn, grows, reaches up and out until it "bravely / blooms." The simple, gentle narrative concludes as it began: "A wish is a seed carried on the wind." But how that wish has burgeoned! By the end, it's thrived and become a symbol flush with hope and possibilities to be marveled at in wide-eyed wonder by a young black child and dad—the objects of the wish? Readers should appreciate not only the fanciful notion of what happens to a wish, but also the whimsical typesetting: Some words and phrases are set upside down, sideways, or curved, the text playfully emulating the wish's acrobatics. The evocative, slightly surreal illustrations work beautifully with the lyrical story. Mostly dark-blue or dark-green backgrounds throw details of the city setting and natural world into relief. One delightful spread shows the "wish tree" in its bright red-orange blooming splendor.

A lovely way for children to imagine what happens to a wish. (Picture book. 6-8)

Kirkus Reviews