One day, when a boy sees his dad cut an avocado in half, he decides to plant the fruit’s seed and grow it into…an avocado tree! One glass of water, two careful hands, and three pointy toothpicks later, it’s time to wait…and wait…and wait…for it to grow.

At long last, the boy and his faithful pet cat see one root, two roots, three roots emerge! Three scoops of soil, three sprinkles of water, and a lot more waiting…lead to one sturdy stem, two clapping hands, and three grateful cheers. The avocado tree starts to appear! One, two, and three years later, the tree grows taller still.

This charming story is told with lots of rhythm and repetition, paired with playful illustrations full of funny details about the trials of coaxing a seed into a plant. Readers will come away with a sense that the struggle to be patient and stick it out can be worthwhile, even when a result seems impossible. Annika Dunklee, Carey Sookocheff