Books About Seeds for Kids

When I started researching for our S is for Seeds theme I wasn’t sure how many books I would find about “seeds.” I was really looking for books that focused more on seeds than on plants and gardens as a whole. Wow! Was I pleasantly surprised! We found quite a few great books that helped us learn more about seeds. Below are our favorite books about seeds for kids. You’ll find a brief description of each book and a free printable book list to use as you gather your books.

Find all of our seed activities in our printable lesson plans

for home preschool and preschool classrooms.

This list includes some of our favorites. Overall the books would be great if you are interested in teaching young kids (approximately age 2-6) about seeds, plants, or gardens.

Books about Seeds

Planting Seeds is a simple rhyming board book. Count along and see what happens as ten bunnies plant seeds.

In the Garden is another board book. In it the main character plants some seeds and waits patiently. Then he seems to forget about the seeds, and something wonderful happens.

In Ten Seeds we count backward from ten to one. A little boy has planted ten seeds, and one by one something happens to each seed that prevents it from growing. Then that last strong seeds turns into something beautiful. This book was a great way to talk about why we plant so many seeds and the kinds of things that can be harmful to seeds.

Plant the Tiny Seed by Christie Matheson

This interactive book gets kids tapping, clapping, waving and more as they participate in the life cyle of a plant. It’s an excellent book for circle time, and kids will be to read it over and over again.

A Fruit Is a Suitcase for Seeds is a wonderful nonfiction book for preschoolers. It is full of great facts from how seeds travel to different kinds of seeds that you would find in different plants. This book inspired us to do a little science investigation and cut open different kinds of fruits to check out their seeds.

The simple text in Seeds Go, Seeds Grow makes it a great choice for preschoolers. The photographs, showing plants up close and in detail, are terrific. This is another nonfiction book that shares information about seeds, how they move, and where they can be found on different plants. For readers learning about nonfiction text features the book also includes a glossary and an index.

How a Seed Grows begins by telling a bit about seeds, where they can be found on different plants and how they can grow fast or slow. Then the book takes readers through the process of planting a seed and nurturing it to help it grow. This book is a wonderful companion to read as you are planting and monitoring the growth of your own seeds.

From Seed to Plant teaches kids how seeds form, how they move, and how they grow. As is characteristic of Gail Gibbons books, the illustrations are very detailed yet simple enough for young readers to focus on the most important concepts being taught. We enjoyed spending a lot of time looking at the illustrations and discussing what was happening in each picture.

One Bean is another book that is great to use as you plant your own seeds. It walks kids through a planting a bean seed and watching it grow. My kids loved this one, because the details very closely mimicked what was happening with our bean seeds.

From Seed to Plant is part of the Rookie Read-About Science Series. It is a very simple nonfiction text that is perfect for beginning readers.

National Geographic Kids: Seed to Plant by Kristin Baird Rattini

The National Geographic Kids series of nonfiction books is one of our favorites. With concise text, excellent nonfiction text features, and gorgeous photos kids always learn a lot from them in an age appropriate way.

The Tiny Seed follows a single seed as it is whisked away by the autumn wind. On its yearlong journey readers discover all that the tiny seed goes through to eventually become a giant flower.

Seeds! Seeds! Seeds! is another great book that encourages kids to get involved. In the story Buddy’s grandfather sends him five colorful bags and a note. Each bag has a surprise that helps learn about seeds. Kids can get their own seeds and join in as buddy sorts, collects and eats the seeds from his grandfather.

Flip, Float, Fly: Seeds on the Move teaches us about different seeds and how they move. This was one of my daughter’s favorite books in this collection. She loved the illustrations.

Glenna’s Seeds is a story about a random act of kindness. Glenna, a young girl, gives a packet of seeds to her neighbor, and so begins a trail of random acts of kindness that brightens up the whole street.

Dandelion Adventures (Out of Print) was such a great book that I had to share it even though it is no longer in print. I hope you can find it in your collection or at your local library. This book is perfect to read before going out to look for dandelions. In the story the wind blows and scatters dandelion seeds all about. We discover where each seed lands. There are also some useful facts at the back of the book.

The Dandelion Seed is the opposite of Dandelion Adventures. In this story one single dandelion seed holds on, afraid to let go. The harder the wind blew, the tighter the seed held on. Then when the seed finally lets go we travel along with the seed until one day the seed takes root and begins to grow on its own. Overtime the seed grows and blooms, and we find ourselves back at the beginning again with one lonely seed hanging on. While this story is great for teaching about how seeds travel and the life cycle of plants, I also love the opportunity it allows for talking about life lessons like growing up and not being afraid of change.

The Bad Seed by Jory John

This bad seed has a bad temper, bad manners, and a bad attitude. He cuts in line every time, stares at everybody and never listens. But what happens when one mischievous little seed changes his mind about himself, and decides that he wants to be—happy? The Bad Seed is a funny yet touching tale that reminds us of the remarkably transformative power of will, acceptance, and just being you. This book inspires a lot of reflection and great discussions.

There are a lot of important messages skillfully woven into this story about creativity, acceptance, and diversity. KayLynne uses her creativity to create a doll made from a mango seed, but that doesn’t discourage KayLynne. The book also includes directions for making your own seed doll and an information section about mango.

Reading Rose’s Garden immediately reminded Lovey and I of the activities we did with the The Queen of France. In this adorable book Rose travels the world in her teapot and collects seeds. She plants them in a dusty forgotten stretch of earth in the city. Then she waits and waits.  But as she does so, she gets quite a surprise and a lot of community involvement in support of her garden.

If You Hold a Seed by Elly MacKay

This is a sweet story about planting a seed, nurturing it and watching it grow over a long period of time. It’s an excellent story to read to preschoolers or kindergarteners preparing for the end of the year as a graduation type story.

Miss Maple’s Seeds by Eliza Wheeler

Miss Maple believes every seed has potential. She gathers up seeds that haven’t sprouted and nurtures them until she helps them find just the right place to grow.

To Be Like the Sun is a lovely poem that shares a little girl’s conversation with a sunflower seed as she follows it through the life cycle of the plant. I love how her curiosity reflects the way young kids approach nature and scientific discovery.

Sunflower House is another book that extends beyond “seeds,” but I love the pretend play that it encourages. In the book seeds are planted and grown into a special fort for friends to play in. It would be a wonderful book to read when planting your own “sunflower house.”

There were also a few more books that I wanted to include. The books in the widget below might be useful if:

1) You have a preschooler who is particularly intrigued by seeds and wants to know more.

2) You are teaching kids of different ages and want to study the same theme at the same time.

3) You like to have extra books on hand to help research questions that come up during your theme. (I like to be able to show the kids how to find the answer to a question they ask.)

Do you know of any books about seeds that would be great for preschoolers?

You can find more activities and ideas for teaching kids about seeds on my Pinterest boards.

GET YOUR COPY OF THE BOOKS ABOUT SEEDS LIST AND ACTIVITY SHEET

Complete the form below to get a free printable copy of the titles referenced in this book list and the What Plants Need Response Sheet.

Use the book list as you gather your books, and use the writing activity with preschoolers and kindergarteners to record what they learn about the needs of plants during their reading.

Get a full week of playful seed theme ideas!

Save time and get right to the playful learning with our printable lesson plan sets. Each set includes over 30 playful learning activities related to the theme, and we’ve provided different versions for home preschool families and classroom teachers so all activities are geared directly toward your needs.

This pack includes editable lesson plans and hands-on activities for a week full of math, reading, & science learning activities about seeds and the foods we eat that come from seeds. Watch this short video to see just a few examples of the types of activities and printables included in this set:

Get Your Copy

Home Preschool Seed Theme Lesson Plans

Preschool Classroom Seed Theme Lesson Plans

More Resources for Little Book Lovers

The best way to encourage a love of reading is to provide kids with many opportunities to engage with a wide variety of books that are of interest to them. That’s why we share so many books lists on Fantastic Fun and Learning. We want to make it easy for you to find great books your kids will love. Over the years we’ve also discovered some helpful tools for connecting kids and books.

Digital libraries are one very handy way to do this. Epic! is one of our favorite online libraries. It’s full of over 25,000 books, learning videos, quizzes and more for kids 12 and under…and it’s free for educators. Click here to learn more and sign up.

Book Boxes are another fun way to get kids excited about reading. What kid doesn’t love to get a special delivery in the mail?! The crew over at Bookroo finds the best little known books that you won’t already have in your library, and they send them to you each month. Take a peak inside a Bookroo Box here.

Book-Based Activities are also a lot of fun for kids. Jodie over at Growing Book by Book has saved us all a ton of time and created a full year of Book-Based Activity Calendars so that you can extend the fun with a special book each week.