Erin Alladin’s new children’s book, Wait Like a Seed, tells a story about milkweed and the life cycle of monarch butterflies to impart valuable lessons to young readers.
Alladin, who grew up in North Bay and now calls Parry Sound home, told BayToday that the life cycle of a butterfly is a popular theme for children’s books, because “It’s such an accessible way for kids to connect with nature and also learn about the monarch.”
The story revolves around two young siblings who monitor the progress of milkweed as it sprouts from a seed in the spring to when it releases its own seeds in the fall. The siblings also learn about monarch butterflies, as they lay their eggs on the milkweed and undergo their transformation from egg to caterpillar to chrysalis before emerging as a butterfly.
Alladin noted, “The book itself is mostly a poetic description of the life cycle of the seed, and it’s told in the second person, so it’s speaking directly to the child reading. It brings in an element of growing up as well as growing plants.”
Indeed, as the publisher noted in a release, “The book merges a science lesson about plants while reflecting on growing up and feeling connected to the life around us.”
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In addition to the main story of the siblings, there are nine pages at the back of the book filled with information about monarchs and milkweed, including a glossary and a list of resources for readers who want to grow their own milkweed to support the monarch population.
“Milkweed and monarchs are both species that need our support,” Alladin noted, and this book helps to spread that message.
Alladin emphasized, “Humans need connection, and we talk all the time about disconnecting from our devices, but that’s just treating the symptom. What we really need is to reconnect to nature and our community.”
Seed. – Submitted photo / BayToday.ca
Tara Anderson illustrated the book, and Alladin couldn’t be happier with her work. “The illustrations are beyond anything I was imagining, and I really love that she managed to create both the illustrations of the children, and the more scientific diagrams of the seed at the different stages.”
Wait Like a Seed is published by Pajama Press and will reach bookshelves on April 29.
