Seeds, plants, flowers, fruit. Did you know all of these have secrets? Shown a selection of seeds readers are told, "But all of these seeds have a secret." A turn of the page and the secret is revealed: "Hidden inside each seed is a tiny new plant." The next sections similarly cover plants, then flowers and fruit. Although a variety of plant materials are shown, the focus throughout narrows to pea, tomato, oak, and rose. Employing a repetitive secret-sharing theme, this very simple introduction to botany combines brief, succinct text with attractive, detailed gouche illustrations. By not specifically identifying which plant, seed or flower is which among the four profiled varieties, readers are given the opportunity to make their own educated guesses. After the last delicious secret is revealed--that seeds are hidden inside each fruit--a more detailed afterword provides additional information about the four tupes of plants that were covered. Brief enough to appeal even to toddlers, this excellent effort also includes sufficient information to entertain and instruct young grade-schoolers.

Horticulturalist and author, Emily Goodman, introduces children to plant growth stages by focusing on the most observable elements of the growth process - seeds, plants, flowers, and fruit. Goodman leads children through a logical progression of plant growth stages and emphasizes the need for soil, water, sunlight, and air during each stage.

Goodman cleverly links each growth stage to plants with which most children are already familiar. She draws on childrens’ prior knowledge of roses, oaks, peas and tomatoes to tell her story. Children are presented with the seeds of these plants at the beginning of the book and are encouraged to match each seed to their respective parent plant. Goodman then teaches children how seeds become plants, how plants produce flowers, how flowers become fruit, and how fruit are nature’s seed packets. She then reviews each growth stage and describes how these stages are best observed in roses, oaks, peas and tomatoes.

Plant Secrets is a wonderful introduction to how plants work and is written for children ages 4-7. Accompanying Goodman’s lessons about plant growth are colorful illustrations of fruit, flowers, leaves, plants and seeds by illustrator, Phyllis Limbacher Tildes. All illustrations were painted with gouache on 4-ply Strathmore Bristol 500 paper.

This book offers a wonderfully insightful look into the life cycle of plants. We begin with seeds. If they receive the proper amounts of water, sun and air, they will grow into plants. Plants produce flowers, which in turn, create fruit. Inside each fruit is .... you guessed it - seeds! The explanations are worded very simply, which makes this an ideal read for younger children. For each step, the same four common plants are used as the example, so we can "see" how they appear in each set of the process. And what a great way to learn this process! We watch as the seeds of rose, oak, pea and tomato progress from seeds that are difficult to distinguish into plants which vary greatly in appearance. The explanations are accompanied by big, bold illustrations in vivid colors. The kids in our group had a great time identifying the flowers, fruits and leaves pictures on each page. Even if a reader is too young to truly grasp the plant cycle, he or she will still enjoy these beautiful drawings.
The plant cycle is a fascinating process, and this book offers a great introduction. The simple presentation and engaging photos make this book an ideal choice for any young gardener.

First comes the seed, then the plant, then the flower, next the seed-bearing fruit that will complete the circle. This staple lesson from primary science curricula is refashioned here as a nature mystery, with each stage holding a "secret" for listeners to guess as they move systematically through the cycle. While there may be nothing particularly novel about Goodman's topic, her presentation is notable for a text precisely geared to a primary audience, and its explicit nod to the fact that, although flora pass through all four states, we tend to associate various plants with a single point in their development: e.g., peas as seeds, oak trees as plants, roses as flowers, and tomatoes as fruit. Tildes' gouache paintings are more distinguished for detail than composition, with carefully delineated examples of each developmental stage scattered across milky white space. With its generous size and bright colors, this title should perform well in a classroom setting as well as satisfy individual children whose horticultural curiousity has just begun to bud.

This fully illustrated presentation introduces the "secrets" at each stage of a typical plant's life cycle, starting with the seed and returning to it: the seed hides "a tiny new plant," the plant can make a flower, the flower has the potential fruit within it, and the fruit contains a seed. The idea of a plant's life cycle is developed through four examples simultaneously: the rose, the oak, the pea, and the tomato. In large-scale gouache paintings, other plants also appear on some pages, adding color and variety but also, potentially, a bit of confusion. Keeping the four main plants and the four stages of growth straight is probably complicated enough for the young audience targeted in this large-format book. The pages concentrating on those plants are pleasing in their simplicity and clarity. Throughout the book, the sentences are short and nicely cadenced for reading aloud. A good, early introduction to the stages of plant growth.

This book on the structure and life cycle of plants is unique in a number of ways. Large type makes the prose easy for beginning readers, with predictable patterns but highly accurate science content. The content focuses on the way plants grow and reproduce. The content is delivered simply, with an emphasis on similarities and differences among the plants depicted.

Each page jumps out at readers. The accompanying illustrations are spectacular, providing opportunities for inquiry after group reading of the text at each page, or at a station. At the end, there is a nice section providing background information for those who may not feel they are experts in life science. It is also a great section for stronger readers.

The use of pattern in prose is an appropriate way to get young readers involved in the story. Providing accurate collections of drawings from which students can find the answers to questions is a great way to integrate inquiry with reading. For example, students can try to identify the plants from which seeds come at the start of the story. Later in the text, diagrams of the plants with their seeds can confirm student guesses. Nicely written and illustrated—well worth keeping!

Children will look at plants with new eyes after reading this fresh introduction. The plant cycle is introduced, beginning and ending with seeds. After a short description of the many variations of a particular stage, the next page states, "But all these [plants, flowers, fruits, etc.] have a SECRET." Readers are asked if they can identify four key plants (peas, oak trees, tomatoes, roses) at each transition. Using recognizable descriptions, e.g., "round, like plates" or "like balls of fuzz" and getting no more scientific than "pollen," the text will draw readers into the wonder of the topic. Bold color-coded headings introduce each of the four stages. Realistic spot illustrations, beginning with the endpapers, present the variety described in the text. Only the closing endpapers include labels but identification of the other plants, both common and unusual, could be part of the fun. At each transition, the four key plants are framed by the lens of a magnifying glass. End matter includes further detail about each stage and the plant that represents it, e.g., peas for seeds, oak trees for plants, roses for flowers, and tomatoes for fruit. Use this well-designed volume as a the perfect launch to a unit on plants.

If you go into a plant nursery, on a walk, or into a grocery store, it is more than likely that you will see seeds. There are packets of seeds in the nursery, acorns and pinecones full of seeds along the sidewalk, and dried peas in the shop. Where do these seeds come from, and what happens to them?
In this cleverly presented picture book the author explores the secrets that we can find in nature all around us. Trees and plants create flowers of all kinds, and inside each of these, a fruit is hidden. Often we don’t know the fruit is there until it ripens and, for example, turns red like a tomato or yellow like a banana. Each of these fruits contain a secret as well. Inside each of them, there are seeds, and one day these seeds will grow into new plants and begin the cycle all over again.
An engaging text and lovely illustrations make this book a must for young nature lovers and would-be botanists.

Horticulturist, Emily Goodman, introduces young readers to the hidden secrets of plant life. Seeds have a secret. Hidden inside each one is a tiny new plant. Plants have a secret. Plants can grow flowers. Flowers have a secret. Inside each flower are parts that can make a fruit. And can you guess the secret hidden inside the fruit? That's right- a SEED! Goodman also explains how we know certain plant life best at specific stages. For instance, we know peas best in their seed stage. We know oak trees best in their plant stage. We recognize roses in their flower stage, and we recognize tomoatoes in their fruit stage. Goodman's descriptions paint wonderful pictures in our imaginations. She describes flowers as looking like little suns, balls of fuzz, bells, bowls or feathers. Her words are paired perfectly with Limbacher Tildes' illustrations.

Plant Secrets is Emily Goodman's first children's book. She's a trained horticulturist and has written many fiction and nonfiction articles for both children and adults. Her hobbies include studying plants and their connection to animals, gardening and fantasy. She's a freelance writer currently living in Brooklyn. Illustrator Phyllis Limbacher Tildes' interest in art began at the age two and a half when she drew a butterfly for her mother. As a child, she was soon writing poems and stories for friends and family. She spent hours sitting in the chestnut tree outside the public library reading books and studying the illustrations of Beatrix Potter. She currently lives in Savannah, Georgia, and enjoys bird watching, gardening, writing, and working on her art.

...[A]n enjoyable book with charming illustrations by P.L. Tildes. Kids love secrets, and many kids love to learn facts they can then surprise the adults in their life with. This book satisfies those urges without becoming either overly technical or talking down to kids. A few pages in the back include useful information for the adult reading to a small child, for someone home schooling, or for the really curious child who always asks "why?"

Intriguing explanations and beautiful gouache illustrations convey the magic of nature in Emily Goodman and Phyllis Limbacher Tildes’s accessible Plant Secrets (Charlesbridge, 2009; K-Gr 2). Children will learn that seeds, plants, flowers, and fruits each have a special secret to share. While “Some are big and round./Some are as small as specks of dust…all these seeds have a SECRET./Hidden inside each seed is a tiny new plant.” Readers will wonder at the beauty and precision of the plant cycle as they witness each of its stages.

Like humans, members of the vegetable kingdom develop in stages. The major stages of seed, plant, flower and fruit are well depicted for plants of all shapes and sizes.