The Missing Sunflowers

For tending the bird feeders of Mrs. Potter, his elderly neighbor, Simon receives what he most urgently desires: three sunflower plants. Despite the boy's doting, however, his nodding yellow flowers mysteriously disappear one by one, leaving behind tall, vacant stems. When Sam discovers the culprit-a squirrel-Mrs. Potter, a stereotypical wise old woman, soothes Simon's hatred for the animal: ""Perhaps the squirrel thought that it was his sunflower."" As Simon learns something of nature's ways, largely through the birdwatching into which Mrs. Potter entices him, his own nature softens. First-time author Stern sets up a contrast between the unenlightened and those attuned to nature: her brisk text's sharp drama (Simon's mother calls the first sunflower snatch ""outright murder"") is counteracted by Mrs. Potter's gentle, knowing warmth: she counsels the sunflowerless Sam, ""Sometimes the most precious things are the ones we can't keep""). Ruff's (""Leave That Cricket Be, Alan Lee"") bright acrylic paintings, with engagingly open, spontaneous-looking brushwork, bring both affectionate intimacy and spaciousness to this tightly woven story. With every strand of narrative tied neatly together, this tidy tale manages to hint at the tangles of nature. Ages 5-up. (Mar.)