This book proved to be somewhat of a sleeper. When I first read it, I thought 'quite nice' but not earth shattering. However the more I shared it with classes and he
ard the children, especially the preschoolers cackle with laughter, the more I realised that this story worked on a deeper level. It elicited much discussion about growing things. Most children thought everything grew from seeds so we had the chance to explore bulbs and I bought some daffodil bulbs that flowered. It was ideal also for lengthy discussions relating to literature in context as the Australian English curriculum calls it. The children picked up on Mr Yilmaz's name and the mention of Turkey, they discussed neighbours and backyard gardens and they related closely to Tom and his creative play. This book certainly deserved to be an honour book.
The students' interest also made me realise that while we had a number of books about gardening and growing things, the library did not have anything specific on bulbs or daffodils, so I have bought two new books to be used in conjunction with this picture book. They are:
* From Bulb to Daffodil by Ellen Weiss
* What are Bulbs and Roots? by Molly Aloian
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