The Sorry Seeds is a good book to add to your character education curriculum. The story can be used as a tool to open a discussion on making mistakes and asking forgiveness.
After all, sometimes those two little words, “I'm sorry” can be a tough task. .

Here’s what happened. Young Courtney is caught taking an apple from her neighbor's tree without permission. Neighbor, Ms. Smith who is also her first grade teacher sees it happen, calls her out and takes her home to tell Courtney’s parents what she did. I thought the neighbor could have reacted a bit kinder. The expression on her face is almost one of rage.

Sensitive Courtney wonders how she can make things right again and apologize in a way that shows how she feels in her heart. She will have to figure it out fast since she will see Ms. Smith in class tomorrow. Courtney tosses and turns throughout the night, to come up with a way to authentically say she's sorry to someone she cares about. Then the idea pops into her head, which she carries out bringing her apology into action.

This simple story can empower young ones to make positive choices even when it feels hard to do so.

The lovely illustrations enhance the text and highlight the myriad of feelings expressed in this book.

An adorable book teaching kids to ask before taking something. This book has a sweet message and also shows the power of forgiveness from a person of authority.

I loved this story.

It had the most wonderful illustrations that bring the story to life, I was a bit mixed with the start of the book, but I was really pleased with where the author took the story.

The overall message from the book is one that is heartwarming and focusses on forgiveness and the importance of apologising. In this story Courtney takes an apple without asking and the book deals with the consequences of doing this and making things right.

The illustrations are lovely, bright and clear that have a warmth to them to help tell the story and bring it to life.

It is 4 stars from me for this one, a wonderful book - highly recommended!

such a great way to teach kids no body is perfect and how to ask for forgiveness, and also how to gracefully forgive someone when they made a mistake. its a very though evoking book and I loved it

Courtney suffers a fall from grace when she collects an apple off the ground in the vicinity of her neighbour's tree. It may have been one apple or many, and despite being angry, the neighbour seems to let Courtney keep the apple(s), but Courtney feels worthless and isolates herself in her room at home. She can no longer think of herself as a good person and over the course of the evening and night, she experiences the anguish of failure. Her neighbour is her teacher, so Courtney predicts there will now be discomfort and hard feelings at school. She seems unable to forgive herself until she has atoned for her mistake with a compulsive act of good will. I wonder why Courtney is so sensitive to shame and guilt when her parents seem reasonable and understanding. Is it because she's an academic overachiever, who bases her self worth on how well she does at school? Or does the story dwell on her humiliation for the sake of structure, pacing, resolution, theme, etc? If so, "the sorry seeds" might have been framed differently. It's a nice concept, perhaps more suitable to poetry than linear storytelling.

What a positively heartwarming story all about understanding forgiveness. We all make mistakes and this adorable story helps children to understand the importance of “‘I’m Sorry” and doing our very best to let others know we mean it. In this story Courtney takes an apple without asking and she thinks long and hard how to make things right and to apologize in the perfect way. I am in love with the illustrations from this story. The facial expressions really help to tell the emotions of the story. The pictures are warm in colors and really create the perfect addition to the story. Your family will love this book and it creates the perfect opportunity to talk about feelings and understand them. Enjoy this book.

1000 stars

Lovely picture book, designed to help children to learn how to say sorry when they make a poor choice. Would definitely recommend for school ELSAs, Nurture Practitioners & for use in circle times to open discussions about manners, kindness & apologies.

In this book Courtney learns the importance of asking before you take something, apologizing, and making a mistake right. When Courtney gets caught taking apples without permission she is devastated. She struggles to find a way to apologize.
I love the steady relationship Charlotte has with the adults in her life. She feels comfortable talking to her parents about her mistake and discussing how they have made the same mistake. Her parents do not solve the problem for her, but let her come up with an idea herself.
Love the simple text and layered art. This would be a great read for classrooms doing an apple unit in the fall.

A warm warming story about apologising. Courtney takes apples from Ms Smith’s tree without permission and when she is discovered she feels terrible and wants to apologise.
This is a story about making mistakes and owning up to them. It also shows that there are different ways to apologise. The illustrations are bright and detailed and convey the emotions clearly.
A highly recommended book for teachers of young children as it helps to start a discussion about apologies and the shapes they take.

Thank you to the author, illustrator, publisher and netgalley for a chance to read an arc in exchange for an honest review.

I appreciated the message of this story, of finding ways to authentically and meaningfully apologize, as it is a hard one of children to grasp. The story could be used as a fantastic jumping board for discussions with children on why we apologize and how to apologize authentically.

At the same time, the book felt incomplete. The surety shows Courtney feeling like a disappointment but this then isn’t really explored or discussed. I think it’s important to help children see that while they can do things that are disappointing, they themselves aren’t disappointments. Also, the adults shared about times they had taken things, but didn’t go into it in any detail or share their resolutions.

Overall a solid book, but would be an excellent book with more elaboration.

I was immediately grabbed by the beautiful illustrations of The Sorry Seeds. The story itself was also great as it's important to teach the foundations of apologies. I think this book is a great conversation opener about why saying sorry is so important. I think having an explanation as to why we shouldn't take things without asking could have been beneficial to the story. However as parents/guardians, we too can add to that narrative and not rely wholely on a book for eveey talking point. Being thoughtful and heartfelt in our apologies is a great place to start and Sorry Seeds handles these ideas well.

Thanks to NetGalley and Gnome Road Publishing for the eARC!

The Sorry Seeds is a great book to teach about how to apologize after you've done something that hurts someone. I love the way the girl really thinks through her options to find the apology that will mean the most. We can also have discussions on both sides of the story and why each character felt the way they did about that apple. Great story.

A beautifully illustrated story about a child taking something that doesn't belong to her and finding a way to
apologize, not only with words but action. The parents share stories of their own experiences of taking something
without asking. Much thought is put into the genuine apology offered.
Highly recommend The Sorry Seeds.
#TheSorrySeeds #GnomeRoadPublishing #NetGalley

great story about the power of the words "I'm sorry." I wish I had this book as a child, and I wish this book went more into Courtney knowing she is not a big disappointment like she originally thought she was. I wish there had been a more defined resolution to that

A lovely story about making things right. The avoidance strategies are age appropriate, the parents not intervening was appreciated and the solution is heartfelt and sincere.

I would use this picture book in my classroom as a writing activity for making connections between students and the texts.

The illustrations are beautiful and tie in perfectly with the messaging in the book.

I will add this book to my classroom collection. It ties in well with our plants unit and writing unit.

The Sorry Seeds is a sweet story that teaches children the importance of heartfelt apologies. This is a great social story and lesson for students struggling with apologizing and kindness. I love the little girl's perspective and how the story ends by inspiring others.

Omg this book was so cute! The illustrations are pure art, the history is pure magic and cuteness. I really loved to be inspired by the message the author passed me. Truly amazing!

Cute book to teach kids about saying sorry. It would be nice if there was more detail about why other peoples things shouldn't be taken without permission. I could see this being used in preschools and kindergarten to teach children about this important thing we've all had to learn.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc.

📚 The Sorry Seeds 📚

Written by @thelilleaderspodcast and published by @gnomeroadpublishing
Release due in September 2024.

This is a delightful book, aimed at younger readers, about the power of saying sorry.

The story follows Courtney as she takes something that isn't hers and is caught by a neighbour who is also a teacher at her school. Courtney feels awful about what she has done and tries to come up with ways to avoid school. Eventually she comes across an even better idea, a way to say sorry!

This book is a great tool to use with younger children to introduce the idea of sincere apologies and how important they are. It also looks at how valuable accepting an apology can be.

Ideal for EYFS or KS1 children. Definitely one to add to the PSHE book list.

Copy kindly received from @netgalley , all views are my own.

#netgalley #sorryseeds

There are times when children need to work through difficult problems and 'The Sorry Seeds' by Tina Shepardson is a terrific book to have on hand. Courtney has a neighbor that has a delicious apple tree. The most perfect apple catches her eye one day, and she wants it so badly! She began collecting apples from the ground and packing them into her backpack. She began getting scolded by Mrs. Smith, the owner of the tree and also her teacher at school. She was taken home by Mrs. Smith. The shame Courtney felt was unbearable. This made her feel rotten! After dinner that night, she asked her parents if they had ever done something without first asking. Both of them had. In an attempt to determine what to do with the apples, Courtney searched for ideas. The next morning, she tried her best not to go to school. Finally, she came up with the best idea...

"Saying the words 'I'm sorry' isn't always easy and sometimes words alone don't feel like enough. But, with a courageous heart, finding a way to ask for forgiveness can make even rotten feelings grow into something sweet."

As well as being a good read, this book has great mental health benefits for children.