My Sunflower

This first book in the Grow with Me! series provides a quick introduction to how plants develop, tracing the growth of a sunflower over several spreads featuring pop-ups, pull-tabs, and other interactive elements. Opening one early spread triggers a stream of “water” to pour from a watering can onto a newly planted sunflower seed; a page turn shows a green shoot growing out of a large, pop-up seed. “The sun shines. The ground is warm. The seed cracks,” Taylor writes. Later, readers can pull a vertical tab to make the sunflower’s stem grow, and finally the bud opens into a large, golden flower that expands dramatically. Friendly animals—ants, bees, worms, a mouse, and a goggle-eyed snail—populate the garden scenes as the sunflower develops. An illustrated closing section shows a more detailed life cycle of a sunflower, introducing terms like “germinate” and “photosynthesis” for readers ready for more advanced information. Ages 4–up. (June)