Chicago Botanic Garden

Education — Lenhardt Library

Current Books & Book Reviews

PHOTO: bookcover

Susan Marie Swanson.
To be Like the Sun.
Orlando, Fla.: Harcourt, Inc., Children’s Book Division, 2008.
decorated boards, 32 pp., ISBN 978–0–15205–796–1, $16.00.

Author Susan Swanson tells a delightful story of a child’s first venture into gardening in this picture book for children, ages 3 to 7. Beginning with the planting of a sunflower seed, the story unfolds, as the seed becomes a tiny plant, which then grows and grows, finally topping its small gardener. Illustrated in vibrant colors by Margaret Chodos-Irvine,  the text explains some of the fundamentals of nature in a very poetic style.

— Marilyn K. Alaimo, garden writer and volunteer, Chicago Botanic Garden.