The beautifully shadowed illustrations of this book are among my favorites I have seen this year. The shadows complement the theme of seeds, many of which need darkness to grow. The dark colors also feel intimate, and like wishes, private. The poem itself is a wonderful introduction to metaphors, and on the author's website, there are great teaching resources for lessons based on her books. The use of text direction is clever and conveys meaning, such as when the word 'waiting' is in print upside down at the bottom of the page to mirror a seed lying underground, or in a crack, waiting to germinate. Just like our wishes. A beautiful book that features African American people of color. ( )

Told though metaphors, this story describes the power of a wish. I thought this book was a good introduction to metaphors for students, but also just a nice story in general. I thought the illustrations added to the meaning and made the book that much better. ( )

This is one of the few books that I can remember listening to that is read by the author. I actually prefer this because we really get to find out what the book is about from the source. I love that she starts out explaining what a metaphor is then explain how it relates to her book. I think this book would suit k-3 best because it is a simple way to help introduce metaphors to them. Even though the illustrations in this book are fairly dark, I think it works. I also like that the illustrator rearranged words like "falling" to make it look like it was falling. ( )

I was captivated by the beautiful illustrations from the very first page. I loved the urban setting ins contrast the natural symbol of a seed/sprouting seed. I loved the connection of a wish being a seed as a metaphor for hope and growth. This book had so much power in the few amount of words it had. Young explained it so simply and clearly. I appreciate the attention to detail that went into both writing and illustrating the story. ( )