To Be Like the Sun

by Susan Marie Swanson, Margaret Chodos-Irvine (Illustrator)

Within every tiny seed lies the secret of what's to come. First a shoot, then a stem, a leaf, a bud--and finally a brilliant sunflower reaching high for the sun. Join a young girl as she waters and watches, celebrating the everyday miracles of growth and life.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Plants, Gardening

40 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 2008

About the author

Susan Marie Swanson is an award-winning poet and the author of many books, including The First Thing My Mama Told Me, a Charlotte Zolotow Honor Book and New York Times Best Illustrated Book. For more than twenty years she has been writing poetry with children through COMPAS Writers and Artists in the Schools and the summer arts program at St. Paul Academy. She looks at the moon through the branches of the old oak trees that surround the yellow house where she lives in St. Paul, Minnesota, with her family.

Reviews

[Jon Nakapalau · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great story about how you need to nurture things to have them grow - wonderful art. I see this a a summer book - for picnics, travel and trips to the beach. Bright and vibrant art that will capture the attention of a small child. Made me think of many of my summers past; how much fun I use to have just doing things with my friends.

[Angie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lovely book for any sort of plant study.

[Cindi · Rating 5 out of 5]

This picture book spoke to me in many ways. I love sunflowers and we always try to plant some. For some reason this year, we only got ONE of the giant ones. I like how the book talks about the seed, that it is a living thing, almost with ears and understanding. I like that the little girl saved a picture of her sunflower to look at in the winter and remember. This is something I'm trying this winter, to look at pictures of my summer and remember the warmth to get me through the long winter.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is really an ode to sunflowers. It contains the promise of summer a little striped seed holds in the middle of winter, the anticipation of planting it, and the reward of watching it grow tall and finally burst forth, a little sun itself that follows the path of the celestial sun every day and feeds the birds with its harvest. I felt myself carried along in wonder with the little-girl gardener in the story. The illustrations matched the text well and were rendered just as artistically. This is yet another children's book that grown ups can enjoy as well.

[Brianna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written and illustrated by Susan Marie Swanson, this picture book is the perfect introduction to teach children about gardening or farming or the general growth cycle in the chain of life. The last line of the book echoes the title in the sweet prose as told from the eyes of a child watching the growth of a sunflower, "I remember how hard you worked to be like the Sun". So sweet! Perfect for a quick story time with an activity.

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

cool artwork. Nice words:
"my hoe breaks apart
the clods of brown earth
but you do the real work
down in the dark
not radish work or pumpkin
not thistle work-
sunflower work.
All the instructions
are written in your heart.

Ella held a sunflower seed while we read the book. I let her eat one and then we planted another in our garden. It has sprouted.

[Meg · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this book was lovely and was touched by the beautiful illustrations and words. The book has a narrative arc of watching the seed's journey to becoming a sunflower, but it's more of a poem than a story.

[Angela · Rating 5 out of 5]

Evokative poetic language and wonderfully illustrated. Good for harvest, spring, weather, garden and patience preschool units. Good read aloud.

[Edna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very sweet story about a girl who plants a sunflower seed and narrates its life cycle. Good preschooler book with large brightly colored "cut out looking" illustrations.

[Janna · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my all time favorites and my two youngest daughters' faves too. We read over and over again!

[Katie Casey · Rating 5 out of 5]

The sunflower's journey to be like the sun...

[Angie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good book for pre-k or so aged kids about seeds and how they grow. Simple illustrations.

[Carol · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful book for Life Science. Cycles. Plants.

[Kathleen Newton · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a beautiful little book about the rhythm of the seasons. I am definitely adding it to our permanent collection.

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

A girl plants a sunflower seed and thinks about all the sunflower thoughts it has as it grows to become more and more like the sun.

Good for preschool storytimes.

[Teresa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Metaphors are insightful and inspiring.

[Miss Pippi the Librarian · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a springtime book about a sunflower! Swanson also takes the reader (briefly) through a calendar year with the sunflower. It's a fun addition to a garden storytime. It also worked well with a sunny storytime. The illustrations are big and bright. They were "created using a variety of nontraditional printmaking techniques and materials." If the story needs to be cut short for antsy listeners, it can be paused in the middle before the other seasons are introduced.

2015 Storytime Theme: Sunny Weather

Reviewed from a library copy.

[The Library Lady · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm a dedicated gardener and love sunflowers, so this book has a lot of appeal for me. The art work is beautiful and creative. But the text is a bit too "circle of life" icky-sticky for me.
A line like "all the instructions are written in your heart" or "a bud like hands closed tight around a treasure" may be poetic, but poetic-smoetic, it's language with more appeal for an adult than a child.
I like this one, but for a story hour, I'd rather read Sunflowerby Miela Ford.

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Margaret Chodos-Irvine's printmaking; the illustrations exude a radiance that holds nature in awe-inducing esteem. And the child's focused and patient attention to the growing sunflowers reflects (at least to me) the interest and enthusiasm children have for witnesses the small miracles of nature.

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This caught my eye as I was going to check out at the library. I loved the images and the idea in the text of the seed containing the knowledge of the sunflower, but wasn't in love with the entire text.

[Tricia · Rating 2 out of 5]

it didn't hook me but it is a tender, well told story about a girl who plants a sunflower and cares for it during its lifecycle.

[Angela · Rating 3 out of 5]

Loved the illustrations. Story was just so-so.

[Tina B]

"seeds, sunflower, garden, seasons"

[John]

A nice storytime read!

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a very cute book to use an introduction to plants.

[Mindy · Rating 3 out of 5]

A poetic look at sunflowers through the seasons. Large, vibrant illustrations would be good for group sharing.

[Paige M · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't know that I would use it for storytime. The text was more poetic that informational or plot driven, but I liked it.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bright lovely pictures.

[Nick Philip · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was truly boring. The art did nothing for me, and the poem was lackluster and one-dimensional.