Books about seeds and plants

These books about seeds are wonderful to read alongside your plants unit!

Our Spring Theme Pack includes an appendix with lists of recommended books.  Here are our top recommendations for books about seeds and plants!

The Carrot Seed, byRuth Krauss

This is an extremely simple story that has been popular for generations.  A little boy plants a carrot seed, but everyone else is quite sure a plant won’t come up. They get quite a surprise at the end of the story!

From Seed to Plant, by Allan Fowler

I’ve said before that Fowler’s Rookie Read-About books are some of my very favorites for young listeners.  This one is no exception.  It’s a great overview of seeds with helpful photographs and diagrams.

The Dandelion Seed, by Joseph Anthony

This is a breathtaking book about a dandelion seed that sees the big, wide world as it floats in the breeze.  The story itself must be an analogy for life, but I usually like to enjoy picture books without thinking too hard about the deeper meaning. 🙂

Flip, Float, Fly, by JoAnn Early Macken

I include this book because it has beautiful illustrations and is wonderful for teaching how seeds travel – not because my Four liked it. In fact, he resisted it every time.  Something about the text didn’t grab us, but I can’t put my finger on it.  Maybe my Four and I just aren’t that that into seeds. 😉

The Empty Pot, by Demi

This is a classic book about Ping, a little Chinese boy, who has a love for flowers and grows them beautifully.  One day the Emperor calls all children to his palace. Each child receives some special seeds. After a year’s time, whoever grows the most beautiful flower will become the next ruler.  Ping rushes home and tenderly plants and cares for his seeds. But nothing grows.  With a heavy heart he brings his empty pot to the palace amidst all the other children’s bright and blossoming flowers. We love the surprise ending!

From Seed to Plant, by Gail Gibbons

Admittedly, this was not a favorite of my three – it was too much of a dry science text.  But even if your preschooler will not sit for the whole book, it’s still worth checking out from from your library. Talk about the illustrations and digrams as you read to keep your child’s interest.

A Fruit is a Suitcase for Seeds, by Jean Richards

This was a favorite!  We loved the comparison of a fruit to a suitcase and the gorgeous illustrations that fill each page.  With just a few sentences accompanying each picture, this was a book about seeds that my Four actually requested.

How a Seed Grows, by Helene J. Jordan

The very cool thing about this book is it will take your child through a simple bean planting experiment to help him learn about seeds.  The general idea is that you plant twelve bean seeds in twelve different eggshells and pull them up on varying days to see the stages of seed growth.  My Four loved this one.

How Do Apples Grow? by Betsy Maestro

This is one of the excellent books in the Let’s-Read-and-Find-Out Science series.  Like all the books, it is well written, interesting, and is accompanied by lovely illustrations. However, the book itself gets pretty detailed and may quickly bore preschoolers and even kindergartners – particularly the section that takes about the male and female parts of the flower, going into detail about the pistil, ovary stamen, etc.  You may need to skip over sections as you read aloud.

How Does a Seed Grow? by Sue Kim

This is a neat fold out book that shows kids what grows above and below the soil.  It’s great for helping children identify the parts of a plant.  Recommended!

If you Plant a Seed, by Kadir Nelson

Oh! I wanted to frame every page of this book! I can’t even begin to give it justice here, but the story is about a mouse and rabbit who plant a seed and rejoice over their little garden.  When the birds arrive hoping to share, the bunny and rabbit refuse, prompting a food fight.  The conflict is resolved and the story has a tender, satisfying ending. This book has some of the most wonderful illustrations I’ve ever seen in a picture book.  It’s an absolute treasure!

Little Seeds, by Charles Ghigna

This is a cute little book about growing plants from seeds.  I recommend it for young preschoolers.

The Magic School Bus Plants Seeds, by Patricia Relf and Joanna Cole

I prefer the original Magic School Bus books to the ones that are based on the television series.  Not surprisingly, I found this book boring.  However, my Four loved it and requested it often.  It does a pretty good job teaching how plants grow from seeds.

Oh, Say Can You Seed? by Bonnie Worth

Some of the science readers based on Seuss’ style are too much for me- the rhymes are a little forced and they lack Seuss’ flair and style.  But I liked this one.  It’s packed with information, and my Four stayed engaged for the entire book.

Once There Was a Seed, by Judith Anderson and Mike Gordon

This is a cute conversational book about a girl growing a seed with her grandpa.  The fun illustrations and little speech bubbles make this a very accessible book for preschoolers. It’s fun to read and easy to listen to.

One Bean, by Anne Rockwell

When I pulled this one out to re-read, my Four exclaimed,”Oh, I like this one!”  This is a helpful book about a brother and sister planting a bean seed.  It’s perfect to read before planting bean seeds at home or school.

One Watermelon Seed, by Celia Barker Lottridge

This is a simple counting book with colorful illustrations. A brother and sister plant a garden: one watermelon seed, two pumpkin seeds, three eggplants, etc. The book shows us how they care for the garden and get a big harvest.  I like that it includes counting by 10’s to 100, too.

Pick, Pull, Snap!, by Lola M. Schaefer

This is a well done book with pull out pages and a nice overview of garden vegetables.  Truthfully, we couldn’t get into it, but that may be because we were tired of reading about seeds. 🙂

The Reason for a Flower, by Ruth Heller

I’m a big fan of Ruth Heller, who combines beautiful illustrations with ingenious rhymes.  My Four didn’t appreciate learning how flowers make seeds (“this is boring!”), but you should definitely give it a try with your preschooler.

This is from the wonderful Pebble Plus series, which uses big illustrations and simple text to teach nonfiction topics to preschoolers.  In this book kids learn about how seeds grow, along with their uses.

Seeds, by Ken Robbins

I was surprised at how often my Four requested this one, as it was a long book that we rarely finished.  But the photographs are huge and vibrant, and we found it interesting to learn how seeds travel.  This book might be better for kindergartners.

Seeds and More Seeds, by Millicent E. Selsam

Because it’s an I Can Read book, this story is repetitive and got too long for me. But my Four really enjoyed this vintage book about a boy who plants seeds in his house.

Seeds Go, Seeds Grow, by Mark Weakland

I thought this book was so beautiful and creative I had to show it to my husband (he has a huge garden, so I knew he’d appreciate it).  Ten seeds are planted, but on each page something happens to one of them.  A mouse digs one up, a ball lands on a plant, bugs eat another one, etc.  Finally one seed blossoms into a sunflower.  It’s a great counting book!

The Tiny Seed, by Eric Carle

This is a clever book which shows that many seeds don’t survive long enough to grow into plants, while one tiny seed beats the odds and grows into a beautiful, gigantic flower.  I do think that it’s weird that the seed grows into a flower taller than a house. But unlike many of the Amazon reviewers, I’m not bothered by the fact that many of the seeds die (by drowning, burning, etc.).  I wonder if the people who have issues with that keep their preschoolers from listening to fairy tales.

A Tree is a Plant, by Clyde Robert Bulla

This is from the excellent Let’s Read and Find Out Science Series. It does a wonderful job explaining the life cycle of plants.

Seeds! Seeds! Seeds! by Elizabeth Wallace

I love Wallace’s series of books about nonfiction topics featuring Buddy the Bear and cut paper illustrations.  My Four enjoys nonfiction told through a story, and he requested this book often.   Buddy receives a gardening package from his grandpa with many seed-related activities.   In the end Buddy sends a thank you note including a frame decorated with seeds and a picture of him and his plant.

Wangari’s Trees of Peace, by Jeanette Winter

This is a lovely, true story about a Kenyan woman who studied in America and returned home to find a barren land and no forests.  She spent years replanting trees and educating village women to do the same.   Wangari became an environmental activist and even won the Nobel Peace Prize. An inspiring story!

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