Miss Maple's Seeds

by Eliza Wheeler, Eliza Wheeler (Illustrator)

Overview

This stunning New York Times Bestseller introduces the kind, nature-loving Miss Maple, who celebrates the miracle in each seed—perfect for fans of Miss Rumphius!

What happens to seeds that don't sprout? Fortunately, they have Miss Maple to look after them. Every year, she rescues orphan seeds, taking them to her cozy maple tree house. All winter long, she nurtures them and teaches them the ways of seeds and the paths by which they might find their new homes. And come spring, she sends them off to take root out in the wide world and to sprout into the wonderful plants she knows they'll become. Celebrate every season with Miss Maple, from Earth Day to graduations to harvest festivals.  

Downloadable Activity Sheets available at: wheelerstudio.com/2013/04/03/miss-maples-seeds-activity-sheets/

"Completely enchanting . . . Filled with broad vistas, warm breezes, woodland creatures, and other whimsical imagery . . . With its positive message about the value of nurturing even the tiniest bit of the natural world, this book is simply wonderful."—School Library Journal

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780425288894
Publisher:	Penguin Young Readers Group
Publication date:	04/18/2017
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	40
Sales rank:	197,239
Product dimensions:	8.80(w) x 9.80(h) x 0.10(d)
Lexile:	AD850L (what's this?)
Age Range:	3 - 5 Years

About the Author

Eliza Wheeler (www.wheelerstudio.com) grew up in northern Wisconsin in a family of teachers, musicians, and artists. Some of the strongest influences on her creativity have been the wild Wisconsin seasons, canoeing the Brule River, picking blueberries with her grandmother, and digging through the snow with her brothers. She received the SCBWI Los Angeles International Conference Portfolio Grand Prize for her artwork, and Miss Maple’s Seeds is her first picture book. She lives in Los Angeles, California.

Editorial Reviews

Confident artistry and an intuitive knowledge of what the world looks like to a very small person make a winning combination in Wheeler’s debut . . . Careful observation of seeds (including a labeled seed chart), leaves, and plants gives the artwork substance, and Japanese woodblock–style skies that fade to sunset hues provide a wistful emotional overlay. Wheeler has clearly had a good time inventing fairy-house fixtures for Miss Maple: flower lantern boats and hollow-log houses make one yearn to escape our big, unwieldy world and inhabit hers.”—Publishers Weekly

“Completely enchanting . . . Miss Maple is the perfect embodiment of a caregiver . . . Each page is filled with broad vistas, warm breezes, woodland creatures, and other whimsical imagery that cannot help but welcome readers into Miss Maple’s world. With its positive message about the value of nurturing even the tiniest bit of the natural world, this book is simply wonderful.”—School Library Journal

"The clean, fluid lines and lovely shading of the ink-and-watercolor artwork gives the book a beguiling look that will go a long way toward charming parents as well as children . . . For classroom units, this picture book could add a fanciful counterpoint to more down-to-earth books on seeds."—Booklist

From the Publisher

Confident artistry and an intuitive knowledge of what the world looks like to a very small person make a winning combination in Wheeler’s debut. Miss Maple is a grandmotherly, Borrowers-sized woman who adopts “orphan seeds that got lost during the spring planting.” Dressed in a big straw hat and a billowing skirt, she marshals bluebirds to collect the seeds in baskets on their backs, finds leaf boats to take the seeds on field trips “to learn about being a seed,” befriends woodland animals to pass the winter days around the hearth with, then sets the seeds free from a bough high in the air: “Take care, my little ones, for the world is big and you are small. But never forget.” Careful observation of seeds (including a labeled seed chart), leaves, and plants gives the artwork substance, and Japanese woodblock–style skies that fade to sunset hues provide a wistful emotional overlay. Wheeler has clearly had a good time inventing fairy-house fixtures for Miss Maple: flower lantern boats and hollow-log houses make one yearn to escape our big, unwieldy world and inhabit hers. Ages 3–5. Agent: Jennifer Rofé, Andrea Brown Literary Agency. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly

K-Gr 2—Miss Maple travels all summer looking for orphaned seeds that she can shelter and nurture until the following spring. Each one is treated like a treasured child, "all similar yet none the same." She teaches them what it means to be a seed and takes them on field trips to their natural habitats. At night, they are snuggled into cozy beds. When spring arrives, she releases them back out into the world where they can root and grow into whatever they are bound to be. Her repeated mantra, "Take care, my little ones, for the world is big and you are small," is as comforting and encouraging as Miss Maple herself. Though the text veers a bit toward cloying, the whole is masterfully redeemed by its visual charm. A rich palette of warm greens, burnt oranges, and peacock blues dominates the spacious watercolor and ink illustrations, which are completely enchanting. With her broad straw hat, full skirts, and kind face, Miss Maple is the perfect embodiment of a caregiver, whether sweeping the tree house porch, floating downriver with her charges in a green leaf boat, or flying home atop one of her large blue birds. Each page is filled with broad vistas, warm breezes, woodland creatures, and other whimsical imagery that cannot help but welcome readers into Miss Maple's world. With its positive message about the value of nurturing even the tiniest bit of the natural world, this book is simply wonderful.—Teri Markson, Los Angeles Public Library

School Library Journal

Wheeler has a graceful way with the petals and fronds of her imaginary landscape but a harder time with the logic and metaphor of the story. Miss Maple lives in a cozy home in a tree with a winding staircase that leads to her door. She rides on a blue bird, traveling all summer to rescue "orphan seeds that got lost during the spring planting." She brings them home and scrubs them clean before taking them on field trips so they can learn how to live in proper soil and avoid weeds. All the while, she repeats the refrain that "the world is big and you are small." She tucks them up all winter and tells them stories; in the spring, she sends them off with love and then starts all over again. The pictures are green, gold, peach and many shades of blue; Miss Maple herself wears voluminous layered skirts and a big willow hat. The plants and flowers invite repeated viewings. But if this is a fable for the care of lost little ones, the whole seed idea does not work. If it's not, what is it? Children might enjoy the round, tiny lady as she reads to her seeds by firefly light or sets them afloat from her leaf boat, but a far better choice would be Mrs. Spitzer's Garden, by Edith Pattou and illustrated by Tricia Tusa (2001). (Picture book. 5-7)

Kirkus Reviews