Parents lie to their children. Fathers are particularly guilty of this. My father visited the people who leased our property while we were in the city for a few years and was asked to convince their daughter (who did School of Distance Education) that paper was made from trees. My father discovered that her father had, before this, convinced her that 100s&1000s (a type of confectionary sprinkles) are Smarty seeds (Smarties are sort of like M&Ms, but larger and flatter). They dug up a patch of earth in the garden, raked and fertilised and planted the 100s&1000s and watered them, and one night the father crept out and put down Smarties on the ground. It was some time before his daughter discovered the truth of the matter, and she wouldn’t believe him again.
Smarties, after all, look much more like 100s&1000s than paper looks like trees.
A sketch in coloured pencils and a felt calligraphy pen on the back of a business card (I bought a packet of blanks on sale).
Kathleen Jennings 
What a delightful story and illustration! It’s got me thinking about all the tales my dad told me….. I still can’t eat a watermelon seed without checking my ears for sprouts….
Cute story and nice illo. Although the father did tell a lie, he was trying to create the magic. Not such a bad effort on his part, kind of sweet.
cute! every child would be planting these this year if they caught wind of the rumor. :)
teri
The illustration fits that whimsical tale very well–thanks for sharing both of them.
and thankyou, all!