Review by Booklist Review
Miss Maple, a tiny woman, lives in a snug house high up in a maple tree. During the summer, she flies off on a bird's back and gathers orphan seeds. Keeping them safe through the winter snows and spring rains, she nurtures them in her home, takes them on field trips, and reads them stories each night. In May, Miss Maple puts her seeds into little baskets and sends them floating through the air or down the river to take root and grow. 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. But for all the graceful fantasy depicted in this cozy woodland setting, kids may well linger longest on the page that realistically depicts and labels 20 seeds, ranging in size from raspberry to apple to pea to pumpkin to acorn. For classroom units, this picture book could add a fanciful counterpoint to more down-to-earth books on seeds.--Phelan, Carolyn Copyright 2010 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
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 Rofe, Andrea Brown Literary Agency. (Apr.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
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 (c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
Tree-dwelling Miss Maple collects orphan seeds in summer, teaches them "about being a seed," and releases them come springtime so they can "find roots of their own." The mood is twee ("Take care, my little ones, for the world is big and you are small"), but Wheeler is passionate and knowledgeable about her subject, as her peaceful, botanically abundant illustrations attest. (c) Copyright 2014. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
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)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
