Ο σπόρος της αμφιβολίας

by Irena Brignull, Jones Richard (Illustrator), Αντώνης Λαμπρινός (Translator)

Ένα μικρό αγόρι ζει με τον μπαμπά του σε μια όμορφη φάρμα. Αγαπάει πολύ την απλή ζωή στην εξοχή, αλλά τα βράδια ονειρεύεται τον κόσμο που απλώνεται πέρα απ’ το μικρό τους αγρόκτημα. Έναν κόσμο όπου όλα είναι πιθανά κι όπου μπορεί κανείς να καταφέρει τα πάντα! Αλλά όσο το αγόρι μεγαλώνει, τα όνειρά του ξεθωριάζουν στο πέρασμα του χρόνου, καθώς ο σπόρος της αμφιβολίας φωλιάζει και μεγαλώνει μέσα στην καρδιά και το μυαλό του…

Άραγε θα βρει το μικρό αγόρι τη δύναμη να ξεπεράσει τους φόβους και να πραγματοποιήσει τα όνειρά του;

Μια δυνατή ιστορία που μας συγκινεί και μας εμπνέει.

Μα πάνω απ’ όλα μας θυμίζει να πιστεύουμε στον εαυτό μας
και να μην ξεχνάμε ποτέ να κυνηγάμε τα όνειρά μας!

Genres: Childrens, Picture Books

40 pages, Hardcover

First published July 1, 2021

Reviews

[Hilary · Rating 2 out of 5]

Took this out of the library and was several pages through reading it before I realized I had seen this before. Obviously not very memorable.

Very ery nice illustrations but I found the storyline lacking. A boy whose mother is not around (but that's all we get to know) sees a swallow who drops a seed, this is odd as swallows don't eat seeds. So the boy plants the seed and the seed grows bigger than a couple of houses on top of each other in about 2 years, any seed would have struggled to be the size of the boy in two years. The boy is scared to climb the tree ( the moral here should be that you're quite right to be scared as this tree is as big as a four story house or more even) but no the father encourages this dangerous climb and the child gets up to the top. The child who looks about 6 or 7 learns that you can do something if you believe in it. With the tree growing so fast I thought it might be a Jack in the beanstalk parody, but no, just a misleading story about tree growth.

[Stace · Rating 4 out of 5]

We all know that when children are very young they believe that there is a world of opportunity in the big wide world and that they can be or do anything. In The Seed of Doubt, a little boy has big dreams and he tells them to his father each night. From climbing the tallest tree to visiting the moon, he wants to do it.

As the little boy ages, he starts to worry about his dreams and starts to put them to the back of his mind, that is until a bird drops a seed, and the boy plants it. A huge tree grows fast, at about the same rate as his doubts start to creep into his mind and he loses his ‘I can do anything’ attitude, but can he get it back again?

I love the moral behind this story as it tries to teach its young readers not to let go of their dreams and to let them know that doubts will come into their heads at some point.

The illustrations complement the story perfectly and I loved watching the boy climb the huge tree that has grown from the seed he planted. Although as a parent I was looking at the tree thinking if he falls he is getting seriously hurt!!

Overall, this is a remarkable book and one that will hopefully educate children about the doubts that will creep into their minds as they age and hopefully enable them to dream big and never stop dreaming.

[Becs · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Seed of Doubt considers a young boy growing up on a farm, dreaming about what his future might hold. Of course, we all long for what we don't have, so the young boy dreams of bustling cities and big adventures away from the farm he knows so well. Except, big dreams come with big doubts and so the boy starts to wonder if he is capable of achieving his big dreams. His father helps talk some sense into him and the boy realises that if he believes in himself, he can achieve great things.

I like the concept, and I like that his father helps him achieve self belief. I think however that the illustrations are quite flat - it's deliberate though, a stylistic choice which just doesn't work for me. But otherwise it's a nice idea.

ARC provided from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

[Cat Strawberry · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a lovely story with such an important message to children about not giving up on their dreams. A boy lives with his father on their farm and enjoys spending his days in the fields helping his dad. But while his days are taken up with the farm, at night the boy shares his dreams with his father, telling him how he wants to explore and travel. His father tells him that anything is possible as long as he believes in it. But as the months and years pass by, the boy begins to doubt his dreams, can anything help the boy believe in himself again? ‘The Seed of Doubt’ is a bit bigger than A4 in size and is filled with thick matt pages of illustrations and text

The story is brilliant! The young boy loves to dream of all the things he will do one day and loves to share his dreams with his father every night. One day while out in the field a bird drops a seed. The boy picks it up and plants it and soon a tree is growing at a very fast rate. The boy dreams of one day climbing the tree, but as the tree grows, the boy’s own dreams shrink and soon he has so many doubts about whether he can ever achieve any of them. His father comes to him and talks to him and after being reminded of what his father used to tell him, the boy pushes back his doubts and tries to climb the tree he’s been so scared of climbing. The story is obviously showing children how they should continue to believe in themselves and their dreams and that doubts can exist but they can also be overcome. The message in the story is good and I like what happens with the boy and his father and how the boy pushes past his doubts and fears and tries to climb the tree anyway and how it goes for me, although the message of a parent being fine with his son climbing an incredibly tall tree with no safety was a bit weird, lol!

The illustrations are so amazing and they really add to the story in the book making it feel so special! I love the way the boy and his father are illustrated along with some of the animals, the simplicity of everything but also the detail in some of the pictures especially the later one when the boy manages to accomplish something is lovely. There’s something so perfect about these illustrations and they really add to the magic of the story for me.

Overall this is such a lovely book and one I would recommend. While the story is simple, about a boy and his doubts and how he overcomes them, the story is so powerful teaching children a valuable message to keep their dreams and how they should hold on to their hopes and dreams despite whatever doubts can creep into their heads. It’s such an inspirational and heart-warming story and message, and this book is one that really made me smile!
-Thanks to Walker Books for a free copy.