THAT'S NOT A DAFFODIL!

You can't judge a flower by its bulb.

Mr. Yilmaz from next door visits young Tom with a gift in a rumpled paper bag: a little bulb. He says it's a daffodil, but Tom insists that it's an onion. "Well, let's plant it and see," Mr. Yilmaz says. They set to work, planting the bulb in a terracotta pot. Then they use a watering can to "make it rain." Nothing happens for a long time, though Tom watches the pot faithfully. Then one day there's a little green beak sticking up. The beak opens up and eventually turns into, according to Tom, a hand with five green fingers. Mr. Yilmaz visits from time to time, bringing different fruits and vegetables on each visit. One finger develops a bud; when Mr. Yilmaz mentions the daffodil, Tom calls it a wet rocket. Finally in the spring, the bud blooms, and, of course, it's not an onion. Tom runs to get Mr. Yilmaz to see their beautiful daffodil, which Tom calls "a trumpet of gold." Honey tucks a lot of learning into her simple tale. Her soft-focus illustrations capture the warmth of the relationship at its center. Blue-eyed Tom is watchful and intent, and Mr. Yilmaz, with his salt-and-pepper moustache, cuts a jaunty figure in a plaid cap and red vest.

Sure to bring a smile, if not an actual daffodil.