The Bad Seed (The Food Group)

The eponymous Bad Seed of this humorous picture-book examination of trauma and its after-effects does lots of terrible things, from cutting in line to refusing to put anything away in its proper place. Perfectly aware that the other seeds don't like him very much, the Bad Seed reveals his history - growing up on a sunflower, being torn from his family, and then almost eaten by a giant! Eventually deciding he doesn't want to be bad anymore, he makes efforts to change, ending up (like most of us) a mix of bad and good...

Having enjoyed any number of Jory John's other picture-books, from his Goonight Already! series to Penguin Problems, I have been meaning to pick up The Bad Seed since it came out a few years ago. Although it's taken me a show more while, I'm glad that I finally got around to it, as I appreciated both the overarching message of the tale - namely, that bad behavior is often the result of bad things having happened to the wrongdoer - and the humor of it. The illustrations by Peter Oswald, whose work I had not encountered before, are quite cute, and accentuate the humor of John's story. Although I didn't find this one laugh-out-loud funny, I did enjoy it enough that I have plans to track down the companion, The Good Egg. show less

A bad seed gleefully tells us how Very Very Bad he is, all the mean things he has done. Then he explains that he wasn't always bad and what changed him, about the loving extended family he once had until the sunflower they called home was harvested and his huge family was scattered to the winds literally. He ended up in a bag of sunflower seeds and only survived when the man spit him out. When he landed on the ground, he decided that he was not going to be a good seed anymore. However, telling his story makes him realize that he doesn't like being bad and decides that if he can choose to be bad he can also choose to be good. And he tries very very hard and mostly succeeds so that when he hears someone say 'actually, he's not that bad show more anymore', he is very very pleased.

Okay, I know this is a children's book but, honestly, I loved it. Like so many people in quarantine right now, I was bored and lonely, missing my family who live away and wanted something to put a smile on my face. I had seen this on plenty of lists so when it came up as a recommendation for me on a bookseller's list - odd it seemed since, despite it being a best seller, I am way outside it's intended audience - I figured the price was right so why not.

And I am so glad I did. It is cute and funny and the illustrations by Pete Oswald perfectly complement the story. This is the kind of book that I have no trouble recommending wholeheartedly for children who I'm sure will love and parents who will likely be expected to read it over and over again. Or for people like me way past the recommended age who are just looking for something to smile about. A good reminder in times like these that one should never judge the actions of others because you may not know what troubles they are facing. show less

This book is about a bad seed. A baaaaaaaaaad seed. He's got a nasty attitude, bad manners, and he does not nice things. How did he get this way? And will he always be baaaaaad?

Cute but also a thoughtful exploration of how bad experiences can lead people to act out in unhealthy ways but that recognizing bad behaviours and trying to curb them is possible. I swear the book is way more subtle about that message and is pretty funny and sweet in the process. There's also some great puns hidden in the illustrations that grown-ups reading to littles will appreciate.

"The Bad Seed" by Jory John is definitely a new favourite of mine. Delivering an extremely important message, this book tells children to see beyond their judgement of others as everyone has their own story to tell that no one knows beforehand. I particularly liked the language in this book, as the author used italics in regular sentences to emphasize exactly what the seed was thinking in a particular moment. The illustrations in this story go hand in hand with the text, which can definitely assist a reader of any age to effectively understand the storyline and message being told. I would recommend this story for young children, but honestly people of any age as well because the message being delivered is truly beautiful and it could show more serve as a good and subtle reminder for all. show less

The Bad Seed was once a happy seed in a lovely sunflower. Could he help it that he was harvested for a bag of sunflower seeds and later spat out under the bleachers at the baseball game? It's no wonder he became bad!

Too often, I hear of "the bad kid" in school or even preschool! Preschool and elementary school children are WAY too young to be written off as "bad seeds."

I hope that The Bad Seed will remind us of three important things: not everyone is bad all the time; there is a reason for bad behavior; people can change. As the Bad Seed says,

"And even though I still feel bad, sometimes,
I also feel kind of good.
It's sort of a mix.

All I can do is keep trying."

The illustrations are funny and wonderfully expressive. If you work with show more children, share The Bad Seed. show less

The Bad Seed by Jory John is a book that explores personal growth. In The Bad Seed there's a seed who thinks he’s a bad seed because of the way he's acted in the past. The author is able to use first person and really get the theme of identity shown through the characters actions and feelings. The book is able to show readers that they can change even when they have had things go bad for them and feel like they’ve been bad essentially. I think this book would benefit readers of a young age to show them early on that mistakes happen and that they can change from them and not feel down about them their whole life.

If anyone reads my reviews, they will find that I review Jory John a lot. And I ADORE his book "The Good Egg." Well, he wrote "The Bad Seed" first and while decent, it is not my favorite.

We have a seed who does all sorts of bad things. And we find out why he was bad....he got uprooted from his home, put in a bag of sunflower seeds, eaten and spit out...I get it. If I had had that traumatic of an experience I would struggle with being bad as well. However, if I look for a redemptive story, I don't find a huge one.

Seed does try to be good and does succeed but he is also still bad. Now, this is very true of all of us. We are bad save for the redemptive work of Christ. BUT in trying this book in a storytime, and not being able to bring show more out the spiritual component....I just don't love the flow of this.

Still, it is a good book to have discussions with at home. And it does work in a storytime. Not fully how I would love it, but it does work show less