Sam Plants a Sunflower

by Kate Petty, Axel Scheffler (Illustrator)

This lift-the-flap picture book tells the story of Sam, a cat who loves the sun and wants to grow some big yellow sunflowers. Children can read about how he plants his seeds and watches them grow, and, by lifting the flaps, can see what is happening to the plant under the ground.

Genres: Childrens

32 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2000

About the author

Writer/Editor Kate Petty (born Katharine Chapman) was the innovative author of more than two hundred books for children, including fiction, nonfiction, and picture books. Her award-winning pop-up books with illustrator Jennie Maizels and her collaborations with the Eden Project in Cornwall, England, are among her most popular works.

She died at age 55 from cancer.

Reviews

[Martina P · Rating 4 out of 5]

Piše na naslovnici : prva slikovnica za male vrtlare.
Ako ne poželiš nakon nje saditi suncokret ne znam hoćeš li ikad.

[Ianna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ο «Σαμ φυτεύει ένα ηλιοτρόπιο» είναι ένα τρυφερό και αισιόδοξο παιδικό βιβλίο που μιλά για την υπομονή, τη φροντίδα και την πίστη στη διαδικασία της ανάπτυξης. Ο μικρός Σαμ φυτεύει έναν σπόρο ηλιοτρόπιου και τον περιποιείται καθημερινά, περιμένοντας να δει το λουλούδι να μεγαλώνει. Παρότι στην αρχή δεν φαίνεται καμία αλλαγή, δεν απογοητεύεται και συνεχίζει με επιμονή. Σταδιακά μαθαίνει ότι τα όμορφα πράγματα χρειάζονται χρόνο για να ανθίσουν.
Η εικονογράφηση είναι φωτεινή και ζεστή, αποδίδοντας με απλότητα τον κόσμο του Σαμ και ενισχύοντας το αισιόδοξο μήνυμα της ιστορίας. Τα χρώματα και οι εικόνες δημιουργούν αίσθημα ηρεμίας και ταιριάζουν απόλυτα με το ύφος του κειμένου. Ιδιαίτερο ενδιαφέρον παρουσιάζει και η αναδιπλούμενη, διαδραστική μορφή του βιβλίου, που καλεί το παιδί να συμμετέχει ενεργά στην ανάγνωση. Έτσι, το βιβλίο γίνεται μια ευχάριστη βιωματική εμπειρία, που καλλιεργεί τη φαντασία και την αγάπη για το διάβασμα.

[Barbara Band · Rating 4 out of 5]

A blend of story and information that teaches children how flowers grow. Sturdy pages and familiar illustrations make this an appealing book that brings nature into the library and classroom. Lots of flaps to lift and a very impressive pop-up! Aimed at under 5s but suitable for use with lower KS1 too.

[Jenna Mills · Rating 4 out of 5]

Shows how a seed grows really well.

[Hafsa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is simply written for early readers to explain how plants grow. The book is a flap picture book which tells the story of Sam, a cat who loves the sun and wants to grow some ‘big yellow sunflowers’. We learn how Sam plants his seeds; from finding a good spot in his garden, to planting, watering and waiting for days before becoming sad that he does not have ‘big yellow sunflowers’ already. However, the flaps reveal the changes that the seeds are going through which Sam can't see. After following the story through to when the seeds grow into small leaves out of the flowerbed, into a tall stem with many leaves with buds and finally to Sam’s delight (and the reader) the buds opening to reveal beautiful big yellow sunflowers we find that the sunflowers begin to die by the end of summer. Nevertheless, the story ends well as Sam picks the seeds from his sunflower to share with friends so that they can plant for next spring which they all do. The book really does make the reader what to plant seeds, it has instructions on how to plant sunflowers on the last page along with its own packet of sunflower seeds! I have introduced this book to my reception class as a literacy lesson whereby I read to them and is also cross curricula with understanding the world. The children and I really enjoyed the book, it really did raise a lot of book talk in the class and they all had the opportunity to plant their own sunflowers by the end of the day.