Be My Sunflower
Kathryn Simmonds and Rosalind Beardshaw
Walker Books

Vernon is a sunflower seed, one of many in the packet Miss Okoro has for the children in her class to plant. All Vernon’s fellow seeds are excited about being released into the world, a world Vernon knows a considerable amount about – scary things like birds, slugs and stormy weather – and thus he feels apprehensive.

Come the next morning a little girl named Carla is given Vernon. Her enthusiastic response , “Be my sunflower” makes the seed feel somewhat more relaxed. Time passes; Carla waters Vernon, the sun shines, warming him and it’s so snug and safe in the soil. Meanwhile the other seeds have begun to germinate

and they encourage him to do likewise, extolling the delights of the stars. Their enthusiasm makes Vernon curious: perhaps he could just have a teeny peep. The stars glitter in the night sky but just as Vernon is reconsidering his opinion of the big wide world, something large swoops by, scooping him up and then dropping him way way down into a sandpit. There the frightened seed stays all night. In the morning a little boy picks him up and hands him to Carla. Carla immediately recognises Vernon and puts him back in his pot.

By the end of the week, Vernon is the only seed that hasn’t sprouted. Carla feels devastated and cries lots of tears right over his flowerpot. The ungerminated Vernon knows that he must act: he spends the night pushing through the soil. Is he brave enough when morning comes to remain exposed? For Carla, yes he is and she is overjoyed. So begins a new way of being in the garden: Vernon grows and flowers and yes, he still knows about the scary things, but now he also knows about some of the wonderful things the world offers, the most important of all being a very caring little girl.

What a lovely story about finding the courage to emerge from your comfort zone and take on the world. Its warmth and reassurance shine through like the sun that sends its rays down to Vernon. Young children will be amused at the seeds having names and the way they talk to one another; will certainly empathise with Vernon and be rooting for him to emerge and reach for the sky. Rosalind Beardshaw’s mixed media, digitally worked illustrations of the personified plants are such fun.