ALA Booklist (Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 CST 2019)

This debut picture book is all about potential. It uses the wildlife surrounding a small lake to show that everything contains an "idea." From the opening when a young brown-skinned girl bites into an apple, the seeds of which the narrator says carry the idea of a fruit-filled tree, to the ending, when this girl is now a mother picnicking with her two small children in an apple orchard she herself has nurtured, this book focuses on what living things can become. Readers see a nest at the edge of a lake containing an egg that shows the bird inside, a tadpole that will become a frog swimming in the lake, and goslings that possess the idea of flight. The language is lyrical and often stunning, as in "the color and flutter" of a butterfly, and directly celebrates the reader's own potential. Lundquist's illustrations, done in soft watercolors, pencil, and gouache, depict the various living things realistically, but also have a contemplative quality to them. A book to pore over and think about.

Horn Book (Thu Aug 01 00:00:00 CDT 2019)

Apples hold the idea of a tree; eggs hold the idea of birds; people, young and old, hold ideas of all sorts. Wild's upbeat, poetic text elaborates on this nature-centric metaphor; Lundquist's delicate pencil and watercolor illustrations depict the growth and change of animals, children, and families. An abstract but approachable celebration of transformation, birth, and human potential.

Kirkus Reviews

What's common among a seed, an egg, a tadpole, a caterpillar, goslings, and you? Each contains the idea of a mature being and the potential all living things possess.A young, brown-skinned girl holds an apple, and readers are told that hidden inside "is the idea of a tree / wrapped tight / in [a] shiny seed." The little girl bites into the apple, dropping a seed that could "take root / sprout / shoot up / into the blue." The story then shows how other living things begin and grow before it shifts back to the little girl. While this middle section reflects similarities between human development and animal growth, phrases such as the "lapping lake" and "over lake and field / through clouds and miles / and days and nights" feel overdone. Additionally, near the story's end, the celebration of a metaphorical orchard field "with creatures singing, springing, fluttering, winging— / and people laughing, lounging, munching, swinging" also reads as sappy. Primarily a story encouraging children to cultivate their remarkable selves, the book also teaches that "work and [a] long, loooooooong wait" are necessary to grow an idea. Opaque, spring-bright colors in the watercolor, pencil, and gouache illustrations extend to the page's edge, eliciting the feel of being in the scene, and complement the text's suggested importance of a human connection with nature.A saccharine bedtime read-aloud about big ideas and the promise in everyone. (Picture book. 3-6)

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

A curious, active child with rosy cheeks and a chin-length bob plants an apple seed: -Hidden in this apple/ is the idea of a tree/ wrapped tight/ in this shiny seed.- Animals and other natural objects are growing and becoming, too: a bird in an egg; a tadpole becoming a frog; and a caterpillar metamorphosing. -Even those waddling goslings hold the dream of whistling flight over lake and field.- The girl also holds amazing potential: -And look at you!/ What ideas are hidden/ inside of you?- In Lindquist-s clear, airy art, the child grows older, planting new apple trees as a young adult. At last, she picnics with her own children in the orchard she has grown: -All around are apples... And every last one/ has an idea inside./ Just like you.- Ages 3-6. (Feb.)