The Sorry Seeds

K-Gr 3–Young Courtney sees some delicious apples on her neighbor’s tree and decides to pick just a few. The only problem is that her neighbor sees her and is angry that she took the apples without asking first. Courtney spends the evening feeling ­terrible and tries to decide how to make up for her mistake, though none of her ideas seem good enough. In the morning, she takes a bite out of one of the apples and some seeds fall out, giving her the idea to use them as “sorry seeds” in a card for her neighbor, who also happens to be her ­teacher. ­Mistakes and making amends is the clear message here, though it is a bit heavy at times, ­particularly in the spread that shows the neighbor—whose face fills the frame, pointing at Courtney accusingly—shouting at her. This scene is offset somewhat by one in which both of the girl’s parents admit to ­having done something similar in their youth, and similarly, still feel awful for having done so. Richly textured and layered illustrations do much to make the story ultimately enjoyable. Courtney is depicted with fair skin, and her classmates and teacher are a variety of ethnicities. The book includes a QR code which links to an educator’s guide with discussion questions, suggested activities, coloring sheets, and more.