Pick, Pull, Snap!: Where Once a Flower Bloomed [Hardcover]

Lola M. Schaefer (Author), Lindsay Barrett George (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 5 and up | Grade Level: K and up

In the orchard
a honey bee buzzes.
Its legs brush pollen
inside a fragrant
pink flower:

A small green fruit
begins to grow
and grow and grow....

Peaches and peas
and even peanuts --
they all begin with
a single flower:
How?
Open this book
and find out!

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Kindergarten-Grade 3-This lovely picture book describes in simple terms the process by which plants flower, create seeds, and bear fruit, and shows the various stages in stunning, life-sized detail on lush, tri-fold pages. Schaefer takes readers into a garden, orchard, berry patch, and field to explain how peas, raspberries, corn, peaches, peanuts, and pumpkins grow-all beginning with flowers. This creative approach illustrates the plants' growth, maturation, and various types of pollination. George's photo-realistic artwork delights the eye and engages the other senses as well, though there is never a yellow leaf or a garden pest in sight. The concepts presented are not easy ones and a bit of abstraction is required, but the explanations are solid. Youngsters will want to rush out, buy some packets of seeds, and get their hands dirty. Growing instructions for the featured plants are appended.
Luann Toth, School Library Journal
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

PreS-Gr. 1. This attractive lift-the-flap title offers a basic introduction to plant growth. On each spread, rhythmic, poetic text describes a plant's flower or husk and shows a cross section that reveals the seeds inside. A few lines of text explain a plant's growth, and then the page folds out to reveal the mature plant--peas, raspberries, corn, peanuts, and so on--accompanied by a bouncy refrain, "where once a flower bloomed." Plenty of facts are left unexplained (for example, What is the relationship between pollen and the developing flowers and seeds?), but the simple, appealing text shows the basic progression of flower to fruit, and George's inviting, realistic color art brings youngsters up close to plants that produce familiar foods. Back matter gives gardening directions for the featured plants, and a final illustration counts through the months for preschoolers learning the seasons. Gillian Engberg
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 5 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Greenwillow Books; 1 edition (March 18, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0688178340
• ISBN-13: 978-0688178345
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 9.7 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #777,932 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #66 in Books > Children's Books > Science, Nature & How It Works > Botany
  • #78 in Books > Children's Books > Science, Nature & How It Works > Nature > Gardening

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars A "Teaching" book that is fun to read!, August 17, 2004

By 

E. Brown (cookeville, TN USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Pick, Pull, Snap!: Where Once a Flower Bloomed (Hardcover)

We checked this out of the library for my almost-5-year old daughter, and she has really enjoyed it. On each page, we'd read a brief and poetic description of what season it was and what the plant and its flowers looked like, and how the flowers were pollinated. Then, half of the page would fold out to reveal the fruit or vegetable (or legume, in the case of peanuts)that would grow on the plant. It was a fun guessing game at first, then a fun remembering game on subsequent reads. The illustrations are wonderful, showing the plant in various stages of fruit development. There are detailed illustrations showing the initial transformation from flower to fruit. My daughter just found this fascinating! The book teaches quite a bit, but doesn't sound at all dry to read. And it doesn't get into too much detail about the parts of the plant/flower. There is a small section in the back with a bit more detailed description...but rather than simply reading that, I took some of the information from it and would just mention it during the story: "look, see those? That's called the stamen of the flower," or "see the yellow on the bee's legs? That's the pollen he got from this flower, and he's taking it over to that flower."

I love reading books to my daughter that teach her about the natural world. This one does it in a fun way, and I highly recommend it for any child who is interested in how flowers change into the fruits and vegetables he or she loves!