Little Cherub's Book Choice: Ten Seeds

We have been on a roll with good picture books lately. Ten Seeds by Ruth Brown is a reverse counting book with a difference, combining the number aspect with the life cycle of a plant. Starting with ten seeds, it counts down to one big sunflower ... then the sunflower dies and sheds ten seeds, ready to start again.

What makes the book is the quality of the rich and detailed illustrations. On each page one of the seeds or small plants is lost - to an ant, a pigeon, a mouse, a slimy slug, a mole, a cat, and so on. For a toddler these are the main interest, but Little Cherub also now likes to point out the roots growing out of the seeds, and the little shoots. Like many good picture books, this is one that we can revisit later at another level.