Sunflower Seeds
Forthcoming August 2025
Discover the magic of sunflowers as they spring to life from tiny seeds!
This picture book takes young readers on an enchanting journey, showing how sunflower seeds transform into tall, golden blooms. With simple, engaging instructions on planting, watering, and caring for sunflowers, children can watch their own flowers grow and learn important lessons about patience, nurturing, and the wonders of nature. Bursting with vibrant illustrations, this book will inspire budding gardeners to dig in and experience the joy of growing something amazing.
Reviews
"Heck’s understated text conveys the narrator’s awe, expressed in precise descriptions of the flowers in all their phases. She offers ample space for readers to admire her paintings, done in thickly applied oil. The brown paper backdrops lend warmth to the characters’ skin tones and act as negative space that defines Heck’s compositions, often to startling effect. The backgrounds also contrast with the textured strokes of yellow and gold, set against heartbreaking blues; they cannot help recalling van Gogh, though these blooms are never confined to a vase. Gorgeous."
"Steadily paced narration that maintains a sense of awe is scientifically detailed and deliberate, and thickly applied oil paint on brown paper gives the yellow-tinged illustrations a diorama-like dimensionality reminiscent of van Gogh’s sunflower paintings. When the bloom yields upwards of a thousand seeds spilled across a spread, the whole cycle seems poised to occur again, and a concluding moment knowingly nods to the power of a good book for kicking off something new."
"Heavy strokes of bright oil paint on brown paper give a warm glow to the rich illustrations, dramatically presenting the growth process and the blooms. In a fun homage, a poster of Van Gogh’s Sunflowers hangs on the classroom wall. Just as the narrative presents the plant’s cycle, the book itself is circular too: it begins with a story about planting sunflowers, and in the end the child is in a library, getting a new book. Who knows what topic he may explore next?"Booklist