Miss Maple's Seeds | by Eliza Wheeler

Welcome to Book Root Readings, your channel for classic, nature, and living children's books. Click the subscribe button to be notified of new readings. Enjoy the story! On a bright August morning, Miss Maple flies home. She has hurried ahead of the flock to get ready for her guest. Miss Maple has traveled all summer long, searching the land for orphan seeds that got lost during the spring planting. She hopes to help them grow strong here in her tall maple tree and get ready for next year's planting. Poppy, wild rice, maple, water lily, pine, bean, impatience, apple, raspberry, lupin, sunflower, acorn, corn, pea, lentil, buttercup, tomato, honeysuckle, pumpkin, fern. She learns each seed by heart, all similar yet none the same. Take care, my little ones, Miss Maple says, for the world is big and you are small. Miss Maple takes them on field trips to learn about being a seed. Some will be carried by the river and land in soft, muddy soils. Friends of the river will help them bloom in safe places. They tour the grassy fields and thick forests. Many seeds will be blown here where rich soil will keep their pods healthy and the sun and rain will help them grow tall. In bustling gardens, seeds must take care to stay clear of weedy characters. Snuggled in each night, Miss Maple reads flower tales by firefly light. Before going to bed, she whispers, take care, my little ones, for the world is big and you are small. Winter comes with the snow, a time to stay cozy and dry. Neighborhood friends gather to share their supplies of hot maple syrup, old corn husks, and juicy fruit rinds. Together they pass the long months with stories and songs. When spring comes, thunderstorms pour curtains of rain. Don't be afraid, raindrops help us grow, Miss Maple says to the seeds. They learn to dance and burrow down into the muddy ground. On a windy May morning, the last spring petals drift down from the sky. The time has come for Miss Maple to send her seeds off to find roots of their own. They set out on an exciting new journey into the wide unknown. Some seeds will take root in nearby gardens, while others will travel on distant winds and faraway tides. Miss Maple has given them guidance and love, and now her part in their story has come to an end. They say their goodbyes with sweet memories past and bright futures ahead. As Miss Maple gazes out across the land below, she whispers, take care, my little ones, for the world is big and you are small. But never forget, even the grandest of trees once had to grow up from the smallest of seeds. Into the evening, she sips her green tea in the quiet hollow of the old maple tree. But the end of each season is a start to the next. One summer morning, Miss Maple grabs her willow weed hat, whistles a merry tune, and sets off to follow the faraway call of other lost seeds waiting to be found.