From popcorn to corn on the cob, cornbread, tacos, tamales, and tortillas—all of these and many other good things come from one amazing plant. With simple prose and beautiful illustrations, award-winning author-illustrator Aliki tells the story of how Native American farmers thousands of years ago found and nourished a wild grass plant and made corn an important part of their lives.

I liked most aspects of this story and its big idea, which was recognizing the importance of the original American Indians and how they effectively grew and used corn. The writing is organized in a sequential way when describing the process of corn growing. For example, one page is separated into three boxes with three different pictures in each box. Each box has a description starting from the beginning of the process when the sun shines down on the seeds, to the rain watering the soil, to the hard seeds softening and sprouting. The illustrations alternate from black and white to color, which is an interesting contrast, but not not necessarily the most effective way to illustrate this story. This book is meant for children between the ages of 5 and 8, so the people who read this book may still need colorful and vibrant images on every page to stay engaged. There are no main characters or suspenseful plot twists, which could make books more engaging for children. However, this was meant to be an informational text so it was not crucial to add these literature elements in order for the story to be interesting. While it is good to have American Indian representation in children’s books, students cannot relate to the farming their ancestors did over five hundred years ago. However, it may be interesting for Native American students to know more about their cultural history even though it is not something they can currently relate to. After reading this story, students of all cultures will begin to look at corn from a new perspective. They will learn that corn was once necessary for survival and is now a foundation of most people’s diets. They will also know from this story that we have the American Indians to thank for coming up with creative ways to use corn, such as popcorn, succotash, and tacos. Overall, this story was engaging, organized, and accurate. All of the facts that this book provides about the Pilgrims and Native American Tribes are facts that I have learned in school. I also liked how this book did not portray Christopher Columbus in a positive way like most elementary school history books do, but did not deviate from the big idea of the story by discussing the horrible things Columbus had done. ( )

I really liked how this book flowed, it was easy to read and follow. The book started with how corn grows and moved into how it first started growing and who grew it, then it transitioned nicely into how corn is grown today and distributed around the world. I also thought that the story was engaging for being an informational text. At points in the story it asked questions that helped the reader to think and wonder about what the text was about to explain. The illustrations also were clear and labeled which really helped the reader to learn a lot about corn. I think the main idea of this story was to teach the reader about how corn grows as well as the history behind who started growing corn. ( )

" Corn is Maize" is great story that not only teaches reading but also teaches science and the process of growing corn. The book has minimal colors which helps the organization of the corns life cycle. The story also has columns to show the steps also text boxes with images of a corn growing and detailed labels. the story also so some of the ways you can use the corn that you have grown. The story is great for teaching plant life cycle and science . Highly recommend! ( )

discusses how native americans were able to use corn throughout their culture and history.
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