The Tiny Seed with seeded paper

by Eric Carle

Eric Carle’s classic story of the life cycle of

a flower is told through the adventures of a tiny

seed. This mini-book includes a piece of

detachable seed-embedded paper housed on the

inside front cover. Readers can plant the entire

piece of paper and watch as their very own tiny

seeds grow into beautiful wildflowers.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Science, Nature, Plants, Gardening, Storytime

36 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 1970

About the author

Eric Carle was an American author, designer and illustrator of children's books. His picture book The Very Hungry Caterpillar, first published in 1969, has been translated into more than 66 languages and sold more than 50 million copies. Carle's career as an illustrator and children's book author accelerated after he collaborated on Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?. Carle illustrated more than 70 books, most of which he also wrote, and more than 145 million copies of his books have been sold around the world.
In 2003, the American Library Association awarded Carle the biennial Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal (now called the Children's Literature Legacy Award), a prize for writers or illustrators of children's books published in the U.S. who have made lasting contributions to the field. Carle was also a U.S. nominee for the biennial, international Hans Christian Andersen Award in 2010.

Reviews

[Calista · Rating 4 out of 5]

The life cycle of a seed and a flower is the subject for this story. It is also a study in hope and to keep going and not be discouraged by the things that don't go the way one thinks they should.

I love the colors Eric Carle uses. This is a fun book.

My nephew read this with me. He seemed engaged. He likes flowers, but he likes the bugs in the flower beds more. He gave this 3 stars.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

When powerful grown-ups act like there is no tomorrow, educating the next generation about the fragility of our nature and environment becomes a crucial mission.

Once upon a time, when I spent my days in a library full of books and children, and planned my lessons to open their hearts and minds to the natural miracles of our planet, I usually picked this classic by Eric Carle to read to first grade at some point. It is a straightforward story about the adventurous journey of millions of seeds who leave a plant and then meet different fates. Some are stuck at the top of mountains, - and can't grow, some are lost in water or in a desert, - and can't grow, some are eaten by birds, - and can't grow.

It is a dramatic story of loss, until finally one tiny seed makes it into fertile ground and starts growing. It turns into a new plant, and the circle of life can begin again, with seeds flying, and getting lost, until ...



Students used to love the fact that the book can be started again from the beginning when the last page is reached, mirroring the eternal circle of vegetation.

One year, I happened to read Dr Seuss' The Lorax during the same session, without any specific intention, probably to celebrate Earth Day or for some other "pedagogical" reason. The effect was astounding. The Lorax is not concerned with the natural life of plants, and their traditional development. It is an environmental warning, showing the exploitation and industrialization of the world, and their negative consequences for many species.

The dramatic climax in this story is quite different from Eric Carle's survival message.

The fantasy world of the Lorax and his trees is destroyed by pollution, and there is only ONE SINGLE SEED left:

“Catch! calls the Once-ler.
He lets something fall.
It's a Truffula Seed.
It's the last one of all!
You're in charge of the last of the Truffula Seeds.
And Truffula Trees are what everyone needs.
Plant a new Truffula. Treat it with care.
Give it clean water. And feed it fresh air.
Grow a forest. Protect it from axes that hack.
Then the Lorax
and all of his friends
may come back.”

At this point, my students sat upright on the carpet, listening with unusual attention. One boy yelled out what they all thought, having just followed Eric Carle's seed in its struggle to find fertile soil to grow:

"ONLY ONE SEED LEFT! AND YOU KNOW WHAT DANGERS ARE AHEAD BEFORE IT CAN GROW!"

As educational moments go, that was amazing. My young students were more caring and compassionate than the leaders of the world.

Or maybe just protective of the claims they have on our planet? After all, we are just borrowing it from future generations, right?

Highly recommended to families and schools anywhere!

[Stacy · Rating 4 out of 5]

My granddaughter was rooting for the tiny seed. Good book for helping illustrate the life cycle of a plant.

Reread today-- my granddaughter still loves Eric Carle... she will be 10 in August.

[Sharmin Ahmed · Rating 4 out of 5]

‘The Tiny Seed’ is a great book to read to young children aged 4-6. You can start a series of Science lessons by going through the book as a class first, which also ties in cross curricular with Literacy. The short story by Eric Carle contains lots of facts regarding the life cycle of a plant. Children can visually see the growth of a seed, through the brilliantly, colourful illustrations which they can enjoy and appreciate, as it balances out the informative text.

The children can follow the steps of the cycle throughout the book as Carle creatively includes the four seasons; Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter. There are questions which can create interaction amongst the children, in pairs, groups or in teacher led activities. Excellent repetition is included to create meaning for the children’s learning, and it also allows children to join in the reading as they can anticipate what comes next.

The teacher can elicit what is happening due to the fantastic graphics thus it is not only a case of the teacher speaking. It is a very educational book as opposed to the usual fictional children’s books. You can incorporate counting for the really young children; when the leaves begin growing and the slightly older children can begin identifying the features of a plant during each season!

[Kerri · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's a cute book about the cycle of a flower, but more importantly about how a child might be small and behind in the beginning, can truly thrive if he keeps on going and trying.

[Aidan Tracey · Rating 5 out of 5]

This "children's" book is about a flower seed. The seed is planted among other seeds, and during flowerhood it has to watch all of its friends get brutally ripped out of the ground, trampled, burnt alive, drowned, killed on impact, or eaten by birds or mice. Soon all the flowers are murdered and the Tiny Seed is the last one. Not to give away any spoilers or anything, but the Tiny Seed becomes the greatest biggest flower ever. Anyway, this book deals with the harsh life cycle of the Tiny Seed and his friends. Rated it 5 stars and would not recommend for children under 13, as it deals with the gruesome life of garden flowers and there is a lot of death and destruction. The tragic tail of the Tiny Seed should be told around the globe, as it teaches about the hostile environment a seed will go through in order to become a flower.

[Kate Hoglund · Rating 5 out of 5]

The illustrations in the book are perfect and leading. They add to the text and create a place for better understanding. I also really enjoyed the story which went along with it. A story about seasons and seeds and their growth. Seeds movement throughout the earth and around the world. It is a very good cool read.

[MaryM · Rating 2 out of 5]

No ... despite all the good ratings I don't like this book at all. A seed on fire because it got burnt by the sun's rays? What?

[Heather Copp · Rating 4 out of 5]

Instructional Ideas
* Book Talk (language arts)
After sharing the story, talk with students about what they think would have happened next in the story if the author kept going? Help children to understand that the story follows the seasons in a cyclical order. Point out the season at the start of the story and how the life cycle starts all over again. Review the names of the seasons..Ask: What season is it nw? What season came before this one? What season will come next?

* Make a Story Cycle (Language Arts and Science)
Draw a large circle on chart paper. Label the seasons: fall, winter, spring, summer. ASk students to retell the story, using the seasons, as a guide to sequence the events. Record their retelling on the circle. Share another story with a similar cyclical story structure and encourage children to create their own story circle.

* A Tiny Word Wall (Language Arts)
Discuss the definition of the word "tiny". Brainstorm with children other words with similar meanings. Create a word wall of words that are synonyms for tiny. This word wall can be expanded with other frequently used words that children can substitute in their writing.

*Garden Patterns ( Math)
Duplicate or create small pictures of flowers. Create a patterns strip and encourage children to replicate the existing pattern on a card. Then have children continue an existing pattern. Finally have children create their own pattern and give to a peer to duplicate and expand.

[Ngoc Dang · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is great for teaching parts of a plant. Students start to learn about parts of a plant in first grade. This book has great illustration and parts are clear for children to see. They also get to learn about the seasons when plant grows and dies. Teachers could have students plant their seeds and observe it grow into plants. Students can write and draw their observations. This would be a fun and educational hands-on experiment.

[Rod Brown · Rating 2 out of 5]

I like the middle part of the book that shows the many ways seeds can miss the opportunity to sprout and become full-grown plants, but I dislike that the beginning and end have bad information about things in our atmosphere catching fire from the sun and a flower that grows taller than trees and houses. That nonsense spoils it for me.

[Anna Flowers · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a charming book about the life cycle of a flower through the adventure of a particular tiny seed. The story begins with the wind sweeping up seeds to start an exciting journey through the different seasons. It focuses on the dispersal of seeds and the many obstacles they face before becoming a beautiful flower. Eric Carle uses a simple style with colorful illustrations to bring the story to life. The story is clearly and accurately portrayed by visually showing the reader what the text says on each page, which is both helpful and intriguing. The illustrations are striking and bursting with color. A collage of tissue paper and acrylic paints are used to create the images. Eric Carle adds whimsy by incorporating unique colors and shapes that only add to the book's effect. Some of the images are out of scale, but for the most part I don't feel like it takes away from the accuracy. I feel this book is appropriate for students in grades K-3. It’s a bit longer in length, but uses common vocabulary that children can easily understand. This is a good tool to use to introduce young children to the life cycle of a flower without being overwhelming in detail.

This book fosters the development of processes including predicting, classifying, and making inferences. For example, the illustrations paint a good picture of what obstacles the seeds must face, e.g. burned by the sun, drowning in the ocean, being eaten by a bird, etc., this could even be used to make predictions. It also includes the order of the life cycle of a flower (germination, roots, little stems/leaves, bud, flower, release of seeds). Children could infer how the tiny seed is feeling throughout the journey too! (sad, lonely, behind, left out, impatient, etc.) There are so many different lessons and topics that this book could be used for to teach children science. I would probably use it as an introduction piece then plant plants as a class to observe!

One thing I love is that The Tiny Seed encourages children to think for themselves. The very first page about the tiny seed even asks, "Will it be able to keep up with the others? And where are they all going?" which gets children curious and ideas flowing. Eric Carle uses dramatic text that evolves over time by each turn of the page. Also, the book doesn't explicitly say that it's about the life cycle of a flower, children must continue to read in order to discover the meaning behind the tiny seed's journey and a plant's needs. This book incorporates a deeper meaning by the tiny seed feeling behind while having steadfast perseverance. This message encourages children to form real-life connections and think about possible solutions.

I also really like that it includes a multicultural component. Although the text never mentions it, there’re a few pages with illustrations that represent diversity. This includes non-stereotypical images of people with different skin colors interacting with the plants. Another aspect that’s nice is that it does a good job of staying away from gender bias. There's only one page in which characters in the story are identified as having genders. This page includes an image of a male on one knee giving a flower to a female. The quote used to explain this situation is, "A boy has picked the flower to give to a friend." Although the word "friend" is used, the illustration clearly paints a picture of a young girl with long red hair pulled back by a headband.

The content of the book is based on sound scientific principles. The books makes it's way through the life cycle of a flower from a seed traveling, germinating, rooting, sprouting stems/leaves, flowering, pollination, and releasing seeds. A scientific inaccuracy I came across is made on the page about the tiny seed growing into a giant flower saying, "It grows taller and taller. It is taller than the people. It is taller than the trees. It is taller than the houses." I understand Eric Carle is trying to portray that the tiny seed has finally made it and defeated the odds to a young reader, but the illustration of two-inch people standing next to a giant flower is misleading and inaccurate of the true growth of a plant.



The attitude towards science in this book is both positive and exciting. Young readers will become cheerleaders for the tiny seed as it travels through the life cycle journey and overcomes hazards by remaining steadfast. This delightful picture book is the perfect example that learning science can be fun!

[Rosie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book follows the journey a tiny seed goes on to become a plant.

This book would be good for teaching children about seed dispersion and the conditions needed for a plant to grow. Children could grow their own plants as part of a plants topic (I would say the plant in the book seems a bit like a sunflower so I personally would grow these) and children can make sure all the conditions for growth are met. This could be extended to house learning when the plants go home with the children and they can have a sunflower competition to see who can grow the tallest flower.

[Eliza Buell · Rating 4 out of 5]

#2
“The Tiny Seed,” by Erice Carle is a story about a tiny seed of a flower who is among large seeds who face the challenges of making it through many obstacles to become a beautiful flower. The journey for the tiny seed is much more difficult than it is for the others, but the tiny seed pushes through and never gives up. Many other seeds faced trouble as they encountered cold snow and hot deserts that ends the journey for them. Some are eaten by birds and or stepped on by children and they can no longer go on. The tiny seed stays unnoticed and continues on the journey. Finally, Spring has come and the seeds that made it though the journey begin to grow into plants. It takes the tiny seed a while to begin growing, but one it does, it begins to grow quickly. The tiny seed grows taller than all the others and blossoms into a beautiful flower that becomes admired by all the world.
The major theme of the story is that if one sets their mind to do something, no matter how difficult it is, the goal can be achieved. Everyone has qualities about themselves that can make certain things harder to do, but there is always a way to achieve anything if you have the motivation and perseverance to do it, and something great will always come out of it. The tiny seed in this story encounters difficulties during its journey because it is smaller than the others. But because the tiny seed stayed motivated and tried its hardest to achieve its goal, in the end the tiny seed grew into the most beautiful flower.
I would give this book at four star rating.
I can relate to this tiny seed because growing up I was always smaller than most children my age. I used to get very frustrated and was always getting confused as the youngest child in my family, when I am the oldest. All of the sudden everyone in my class stopped growing and before I knew it, I grew to be the same size as everyone else my age, just like how the tiny seed grew into a beautiful flower.
I would recommend this book to readers because many children in elementary school begin to compare themselves to others and if they have qualities that are different or abnormal, the children feel insecure. This book has a good lesson that will benefit children who feel this way, because it teaches them that in the end good things will always come out of their different traits and we are all made the way we are for a reason.

[Casey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Synthesis:The Tiny Seed by Eric Carle is a children's picture book that takes the reader through the life cycle of a plant. It begins with a seed in autumn and goes through a full year following one seed in particular. Through fun and colorful illustrations and personifying the seed to make its actions come to life, this book is very informative and entertaining for young readers.

Teaching Connections: This book is great for a science lesson on the life-cycle of a seed. It describes the general process of the life cycle of a seed, but doesn't get overly detailed. At the age that the book is designed for, this is the perfect amount of information, in order to simplify the process and avoid confusion. Overall, the book is accurate aside from the exaggeration of the tiny seed at the end, so it is the perfect introduction into this type of unit. All of the information itself is correct, but the flower that the seed has become is said to be, "taller than the people, taller than the trees, taller than the houses." Since this is such an extreme exaggeration, I feel that it would not confuse students' understanding of flower growth
The book could also be used for an activity on sequencing. As the seed goes through its different stages, many seasons pass and many obstacles are faced. A diagram such as,
[image error] is a great way to practice both the life-cycle as well as sequencing.
Why this is a WOW Book: An aspect of this book that I particularly loved was that it began by asking, "Will it be able to keep up with the others? And where are they all going?" Right off the bat, this guides the way the students are thinking about the tiny seed along with the other seeds, without having to be explicitly told what to focus on. These are both points where the students could have the opportunity predict what will happen to the seeds. There are also a lot of pages that leave the reader hanging, and then gives the rest of the information on the next page, so this is an opportunity for students to make observations and predications as well.

[Claire · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Tiny Seed by Eric Carle

A simple story by the author Eric Carle about the life cycle of a tiny seed. He starts the story in autumn with the journey of the seeds which have just been dispersed into the wind . He focuses on the life of the smallest seed of them all. The story continues on each page with what happens throughout the year as each seeds looks for the perfect place to land before spring. He contrasts how the bigger seeds don’t survive as they went too near the sun, or get stuck on a cold icy mountain. The tiny seed perseveres flying slower than the rest but still moving nonetheless. Some seeds fall in the water, fall onto desert and get eaten by birds. The cycle moves to winter where the seeds journey slows down and by spring they are ready to become plants. However, the tiny seed hasn't begun to grow yet due to his size but eventually does! By the time summer comes around the only remaining seed is in the garden all alone but it is now no longer a small seed and it has become a plant. The plant flourishes into the tallest plant anyone has ever seen. The cyclical cycle continues and just as the beginning of the story was the plant dispersing seed the same occurs again.

This is a great book to read to a class, it would firstly keep them enthused from the start. It teaches a strong lesson that just because something is small is does not mean it is weak; The little seed persevered and became a giant flower. From a science perspective it is perfect to show the life cycle in nature. A lesson could comprise of asking students about the seasons and what order they are in. Picking parts of the story and asking them to relate it to what season, or what happens next in the growth of the seed. I would feel this book is for a group reading as the illustrations by Eric Carle are extremely good and make the book bulkier. They would keep children guessing what the next page would bring.

Overall I would very much approve this book for the age group of 5-7 and it portrays a never give up attitude which is important for children to understand.

[Emily Goldsmith · Rating 4 out of 5]

‘The Tiny Seed’, is a beautifully descriptive book describing the journey of a tiny seed and the dangers it faces after being swept up by the wind along with many ‘bigger’ seeds. The seeds are taken over deserts, oceans and up by the sun but the tiny seed survive because it cannot go as high as the bigger seeds. When the seeds eventually land, tiny seed is faced with even more dangers such as birds eating the seeds and when the bigger seeds begin to flower, tiny seed is upset and does not believe in himself. However, little boys trample and pick the bigger flowers and one day, tiny seed begins to grow and grow until it has grown into the biggest flower anyone has ever seen. The book finishes with the flower losing its leaves as the season’s change and the wind picking up again. Until finally, there is a huge gust of wind and hundreds of tiny seeds are taken into the wind to start their own journey of becoming flowers.
This book would be great for KS1 and SEND because it would be a great story to help children understand how a seed becomes a plant, growth and seasons. Having taught the subject of growth, seeds and plants to an SEN class, I would most definitely use this book in the future as the illustrations are collages and are very visual and stimulating. This book could be read along with some sensory items such as a fan to simulate the wind and a torch as the sun.
The book also tells an underlying message, that could be used in a mainstream school to discuss the emotions and feelings that ‘tiny seed’ was having regarding being different from the other seeds and not really fitting in. This would be a great book for Philosophy for children as well, discussing how we are all different.

[Emmaline MacBeath · Rating 5 out of 5]

SUMMARY: A tiny seed, smaller than the others, makes a very long journey until it can grow into something amazing.

ILLUSTRATIONS: Eric Carle's style is simple, yet rich with color and story.

REVIEW: It is important to note that I am reviewing the Level 2 Reader which is NOT the classic original of The Tiny Seed. This is a slightly revised version that is in a level 2 reader format. One of the things I love about the words in this book is that is does not feel as if they were "dumbed" down to make reading overly simple. It feels more like the reader has to reach up and grow, just like the seed in the story. And this story is rich with meaning. The smallest seed may take longer to accomplish its journey and to grow, but what it becomes is far more magnificent. The book is also a page turner. I couldn't wait to turn the page and to follow the seed to the next step.

AGE RECOMMENDATION: Advertised for grades K-2. It would also be appropriate for grade 3 depending on child's reading level.

[Emily Arrant]

summary: This story is during Autumn. It is about a seed that gets blown by the wind. The tiny seed does not go as fast as the other. The tiny seed does not go as high as the others. The tiny seed is so small that the bird does not see it. It then turns to winter, then to spring. The seed is still small and has not grown into a plant yet. The tiny seed finally grows but its neighbor grows faster. However, the neighbor flower is picked and now the plant that was tiny is now taller than the housed and everyone comes to look at it. Then it becomes winter and the seeds sail away.
evaluation: I really loved this book. I would definitely have this in my classroom library. This is a great book to look at the images and do a picture walk. I would definitely use this book in a science lesson.
teaching point: I would use this book to teach about the life cycle of a plant. We could read the text and then do an activity about the life cycle. We could talk about sunlight, soil, and plant a seed as a class and then watch the plant grow.

[Anjumanara · Rating 3 out of 5]

I came across this book during placement B in a nursery. I used it during the week we decided to grow a seed as a starting point. I think although a little longwinded it unravels the complex life cycle of a plant. It starts off with a seed travelling through various hazardous conditions which have led to some seeds not going through the cycle but one manages to land on an ideal place and is also favoured by good conditions which led to it growing into a big beautiful flower. Eric Carle has a unique way of bringing life into his books and imparting with information in an appealing way. The illustrations are colourful and true to the Eric Carle trademark which is evident in his other books such as ‘the very hungry caterpillar’. It goes through the seasons and weather conditions and is a valuable addition when learning about these topics. Children usually love to point to the seed as it goes through its journey and really get engrossed in the book.

[Sally Todd · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Tiny Seed is an intriguing story, which tells the story of a seed’s journey. The story begins with a tiny seed, as it is blown by the wind into different weather conditions, as it eventually takes settles into the ground ready to become a flower. Eventually the flower that has grown begins to die, allowing new seeds to be released into the wind; hence the cycle of a plant begins again. The story is a great introduction in showing children the life cycle of a plant and with that how flowers grow and it can also a be a good starting point with introducing the different seasons to children. I would recommend this book for key stage one children – even though the story is quite long, the story will keep children engaged especially by the creative pictures and the intriguing journey of the seed.

[winda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Its the story about the tiny seed journey.

In Autum the tiny seed flies across the icy mountain, ocean, desert an finaly down on the ground.

In winter, the snow cover the seed and melted in spring. The seeds becomes plant except the tiny seed.

In summer the plants from tiny seed grow bigger and bigger..

Until autum he wind blow the flower makes the flower's seed pod opens.. and the journey of the seed begin again...

I like both story and illustration :) Through this story children can learn flower life cycle. Seeds are spreading in many ways, as mention in the book, wind as an example. Then we can play with children to guess what kind of the plant which the seed can be spread by wind.
In this book, we also can teach the children to appreciate the plant, dont take it for granted.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

45 months - answers the question why do plants have so many seeds and how come they don't all end up becoming new plants?

[Emily Cook · Rating 5 out of 5]

My boys were fascinated by this book- a perfect read for springtime! What a celebration of the beauty of plants!

[Max · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read to the kids I subbed today. RIP GOAT

[Dahlia Bahr · Rating 5 out of 5]

The pictures are so beautiful! 🌷

[Megan Denney · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Tiny Seed is about seeds and their process in making a flower. To begin the seeds are flying by the strong wind in the fall season and some get lost in different places like the ocean, dessert and icy mountain. All places the seeds cannot survive and they die there. The rest of the seeds carry on flying in the wind and finally drop to a grassy area where a bird eats one, but doesnt see the tiny seed. When the seeds settle in the ground during winter a mouse underground eats a seed for lunch, but not the tiny seed. When spring comes and rain waters the plants and the sun gives them engery they begin to bud. One plant is stomped by a human, the tiny seed is taking longer to grow but its other seed has already grown into a nice flower where later a human picks it for a friend. Now left along the tiny seed begins to bloom and bloom where it turns into a giant flower. Everyone admires the seed's flower even the birds and butterflies, but once winter comes the flower begins to lose its leaves and not the seeds exit and process repeats.

I will definitely have this book in my classroom as it it not your typical nonfiction book. It allows for students to hear the story of how flowers bloom from seeds and how the seasons affect growth of plants through a detailed story and not a nonfiction text filled with facts and real life pictures. The pictures in this book a creative and vivid to attract students of all ages.

A teaching point for The Tiny Seed is you could focus on sequencing with this story. You could even incorporate imagery within the book by teaching imagery and having the students go back and find examples in the book. Another teaching point would be to use the multiple meaning words in this book to create a lesson for like: leaves, plant and sails. You could also do a science lesson on plants and have this book be the hook for your lesson.

[Martin Hunter · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Tiny Seed is a simple story about the life cycle of a seed. The story begins in autumn and focuses on the journey of the seeds which have been dispersed in the wind. The tiny seed survives by moving slower than the others, until eventually it is the only seed remaining in the garden and has flourished into a tall plant.
This story would ideally be suited to class aged 5-7. I feel it would capture the class’s imagination from the outset and all should be able to relate to the story. There is a strong life lesson contained within the story; that is just because something is small does not mean it should be discounted. The students should recognise that the smallest seed eventually became a giant flower. From a cross curricular perspective this book may be linked to the teaching of the seasons and the growth of plants. Students may be questioned on what season it currently is? What does this season look like?- how may this season be described? etc. Overall all I would thoroughly recommend this book for use within the classroom.

[Natasha · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a truly magical feeling when your kids know who an author or illustrator is based entirely on the style of a picture book. Eric Carle's unique and playful brushstrokes and vibrant colours always look a little jarring to me but it's obviously is a huge hit with children.

[Julie · Rating 2 out of 5]

The illustrations are the strongest part of this storybook. The plot is far-fetched. Why do the seeds keeping blowing around so long? Why does the tiny seed grow into such an enormous plant? Is this a parable and I'm too shallow to understand it?! Probably. My 8 year old daughter adores this book. Like most Eric Carle creations, it definitely has charm. I just personally wouldn't choose to read this one repeatedly.