Rooting for You: A Moving Up Story by Susan Hood (review)

“I am NOT coming out!” announces a tiny green seed: it’s plenty safe deep in the ground, and who knows what’s lurking out there in the dirt, digging in the dark? Of course, playing it safe is pretty boring, so maybe the seed will just stick out one little root … and maybe just a shoot, too. A pebble proves to be a temporary setback, but an affable, bespectacled earthworm offers some encouragement, giving the developing daisy the boost it needs to get past the surface and unfurl into its full flowery self. The story is simple, and the worm’s gentle rhymes keep a pleasant rhythm going: “There are friends to feed you,/ friends to weed you,/ and friends indeed who/ really need you.” The full-page flaps that unfold as the flower sprouts add some suspense, and they also the increase the fun for use in lapsits or storytimes, as does the book’s vertical format as the daisy grows and grows. Cordell’s scrawling illustrations temper the earnestness of the inspiration, and the rich, earthy palette necessary for the worm and the dirt is balanced by the jellybean purples of nearby beetles and greens of the foliage above ground; the seed’s round face shows just how worried two lines and a dot can make a face look. This would make a fine book for personal sharing with younger ones, and the intrepid might consider pairing it with Donaldson’s Superworm (reviewed above) for a squirmy storytime.