The transformative life cycle of a sunflower plays out in this bold read-aloud by Sibert honoree Antoinette Portis. “A seed falls, And settles into the ground, And the Sun shines, And the rain comes down, And the seed grows…” To understand how a seed becomes a sunflower, you have to peek beneath the soil and wait patiently as winding roots grow, a stalk inches out of the earth, and new seeds emerge among blooming petals.