If You Hold a Seed

PreS-Gr 2—MacKay presents a contemplative story about planting a seed and watching-and waiting-for it to grow into a big, strong tree with branches perfect for climbing onto and dreaming. It is primarily a mood piece in which the emphasis is on the artwork. A boy plants a seed, makes a wish, and waits, because "something magical can happen." After the rains follow days of sunshine, a fragile sapling springs up. Waiting and waiting some more, the boy one day discovers "little buds and tender leaves." Summer brings bees or a butterfly, and the tree continues to grow. On through the seasons it thrives, through the cold days of winter, until the next spring when there are enough branches and buds to attract birds. "Season by season [and] year by year," the tree is eventually big enough to hold the boy, now an adolescent. Waiting even longer, the branches can hold yet another generation. MacKay has created her dreamy piece with paper cutouts layered for effect in a paper theater or shadow-boxlike setting. The book will be suitable for quiet one-on-one sharing or perhaps as a bedtime selection.—Roxanne Burg, Orange County Public Library, CA