PPBF Plants Can't Sit Still

Perfect Picture Book Friday will soon be on vacation, but please join me here every Friday of the summer for Summer Drive-in where I'll be highlighting some of my favorite books-turned-movies. Don't forget the popcorn and a pillow!


Today's Perfect Picture Book Friday pick



Plants Can't Sit Still, by Rebecca Hirsch and Mia Posada

Plants Can't Sit Still

Written by Rebecca Hirsch
Illustrated by Mia Posada
Millbrook Press, 2016
Ages 5-8, Lexile 510L


Themes:
Nature, Nonfiction


Opening:
Plants don't have feet or fins or wings,
Yet they can move in many ways.
Look closely and you'll discover that plants can't sit still.

Synopsis:
Plants Can't Sit Still is a delightfully creative look at a characteristic of plants which is often overlooked...their movement. Plants can move. Blossoms grow toward the sun. Roots snake along the ground. Many plants react to their environment. Some flowers fold up for the night. Some fold up when touched. The author also highlights plants which move in more unusual ways, like the tumbleweed and the squirting cucumber. Lastly, the text explores how plants travel: their seeds floating, flying, hitchhiking, and whirling through the air. From cockleburs to coconuts, seeds are designed to travel to new places where conditions are good for growing new plants. The back matter contains a more detailed summary of plant behavior. Along with a glossary, descriptions of each species, and an author's note explaining how she researched the plants in the book, Rebecca Hirsch includes recommended reading, and links to Venus fly trap videos and accelerated growth footage.


What I Love:
Plants Can't Sit Still is beautifully written, using active verbs and energetic fonts. The text is lyrical and the author avoids rhyme in favor of vigorous prose, inviting readers themselves to move, through the pages and back again. The ending circles back to wording from the beginning, mimicking the plant life cycle. Mia Posada's art is perfectly suited to the text. The illustrated plants climb, slither, and squirm their way across the pages in earthy watercolored collage. Guaranteed to convert fiction fans to nonfiction lovers.


Bonus: 
1. GROG interviewed the author, Rebecca E. Hirsch.


Absolutely amazing learning craft
from Danielle's Place

2. Illustrator Mia Posada is also a skilled fine artist. You can purchase her nature prints on Minted Marketplace.

3. Explore mobile plant seeds and cultivate a butterfly garden with tips from American Meadows on growing Milkweed.

4. Plants for Kids  posted instruction for the classic phototropism experiment in which a plant grows through a shoebox obstacle course until it finds the light.

5. BBC Nature offers some fascinating videos on animal-aided  seed dispersal.

6. WonderGressive has more information and videos on sensitive plants which move when touched.

7. I adore the environmental science curriculum, activities, and info from LifeLab. Check it out or pass it on.

8.  This book is truly perfect. Just ask the other Perfect Picture Book Friday reviewers: Sue on Archimedes Notebook, Kirsten on Creating Curious Kids,

9. Check out these and more Perfect Picture Books at your local library.


Reviewed by Susanna

Reviewed by Kirsten



Reviewed by Julie



Reviewed by Susanna



Reviewed by Sue

Reviewed by Joanne



Have you reviewed a Perfect Picture Book along this theme? Please leave the link in the comments below. Thanks!

Check out all the recommended titles for Perfect Picture Book Friday
for Friday, June 16, 2017 available on Susanna Leonard Hill's blog.

*I do not necessarily endorse the ministry listed, but recommend the content of the link provided.