The cooking of a healthy breakfast moves from parent-child bonding to an eloquent conversation about energy, the growth of plants, and the miraculous ways the sun’s light nourishes us all. It began with the sun, Who showers the earth With heat and light— Tiny packets of energy. How does a home-cooked breakfast give a little girl the energy she needs for a brand-new day? In gently expressive language, her mother takes readers on a journey into the earth where sleepy seeds are tickled awake and grow into golden oats; into blueberry patches, where green leaves break apart water and air to build sweet sugar; and into a pasture where sun becomes grass, becomes cow, becomes milk. Author Laura Alary ’s free verse breaks big ideas into child-sized pieces, making Sun in My Tummy an accessible introduction to the concepts of matter and energy, and how the sun’s light becomes fuel for our bodies through the food we eat. Andrea Blinick ’s mixed-media illustrations pair the cozy and homelike with the glowing and dramatic as she takes readers from the kitchen to the farm field and to the sky and back. A concluding Author’s Note shares further information about photosynthesis for young readers. “ This book is as essential as sunshine; the absolutely beautiful STEM story is as absorbing as photosynthesis itself. ” — School Library Journal  ★   Starred Review “Toronto author Laura Alary’s poetic rumination about how the sun nourishes us all offers food for thought. The sunny and bright mixed-media illustrations from Andrea Blinick are inviting.” —Quill & Quire ★ Starred Review Praise for Sun in My Tummy 2023-2024 Pennsylvania Young Reader's Choice Award Nominee 2022 CCBC Best Books for Kids & Teens Starred Selection 2023 Norma Fleck Award for Canadian Children’s Non-Fiction Finalist 2022 Shelf Awareness “Children’s and YA Gifts” selection 2023 TD Summer Reading Club Top Recommended Reads Selection 2023 ALA Sustainability Round Table Top 10 Sustainability Themed Children’s Books selection 2023 The Children’s Book Council “Spring 2023 Showcase: Spring Into a New You” feature 2022 The Children’s Book Council “March: Hot Off the Press” feature 2022 Picture Books, Eh “Interview with Andrea Blinick” feature "Alary carefully creates sound, rhythm, and action, while precisely placing line breaks to enhance drama and pacing…. Mixed-media artwork creates striking color variation and subtle dimension, lifting the illustrations right off the page….Blinick’s deliberate use of line moves the eye across the page in perfect accompaniment to the narrative…. This book is as essential as sunshine; the absolutely beautiful STEM story is as absorbing as photosynthesis itself."―School Library Journal, Starred Review “Toronto author Laura Alary’s poetic rumination about how the sun nourishes us all offers food for thought. The sunny and bright mixed-media illustrations from Andrea Blinick are inviting.”―Quill & Quire “Perfect for reading out loud, this engaging tale could be used as an introduction to elementary science units and also to encourage young readers to find the magic in everyday things.”―Booklist “The illustrations are brightly colored pencil-like drawings of how oats grow, how blueberries grow, and even how birds and bees help pollinate flowers. This is a great way to talk about the cycles of food and how we end up with some of the yummy dishes that become part of our family routines.” ―Youth Services Book Review “Through Blinick’s mixed-media illustrations, she is able to conceptualize a pretty complex topic and turn it into something that is easily understood by even the youngest of readers. Overall, Sun in My Tummy is a highly informative and enjoyable read.”―CM: Canadian Review “This bright, inviting picture book warms the audience's tummies and hearts with its nibble-size bites of big science concepts….Sun in My Tummy will charm all…”―Shelf Awareness “For those of us that like a fictionalized feel to our nonfiction, this book delivers. It’s accessible, fun, and informative but does not scrimp on the science (there is even a one-page Author’s Note describing the process of Photosynthesis). It could just as easily be read as a bedtime story as used as a learning tool in a classroom environment. An excellent choice for parents, caregivers, or educators. Loved this read.”―Cloud Lake Literary “It's never too early to introduce STEM subjects to young readers, and this is a great title for a budding young scientist. I just wish it had been around when my own children were young.”―YA Books Central “A clever book to help young children understand where our food comes from and how it grows and passes energy to us: food is fuel, and sometimes that means the warm-heartedness of sunlight!”―Children’s Literature-CLCD “This is an excellent science book for primary grades, starting with a concept everyone will recognize and using free verse and whimsical illustrations to foster a sense of wonder about the natural world.”―A