Flower Girl Butterflies [Library Binding]

Elizabeth Fitzgerald Howard (Author), Christiane Kromer (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 3 and up

Sarah is a flower girl in Aunt Robin's wedding! She gets to wear a swirly, twirly dress and carry a basketful of flowers. How exciting!

And scary.
What if she trips?
What if she drops her basket?
What if she throws the flowers all wrong?
Everyone will be watching.

Sarah doesn't want to let Aunt Robin down, but she gets butterflies in her tummy just thinking about it.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

PreSchool-Grade 2-All of the excitement and anxiety of a wedding day are captured in this charming picture book. When young Sarah is asked to be a flower girl in her Aunt Robin's wedding, the child is consumed with doubts. She worries that she will forget to throw her flowers. She's nervous about tripping in front of everyone, getting sick, or ruining her new dress. With the loving reassurance of her African-American family, she calms her fears enough to walk down the aisle. After all, she has to be a "big girl" role model for the little ring bearer. This book is a wonderful celebration of family as the grandmothers and several uncles and cousins come to spend the night before the wedding at Sarah's house. Sarah's big moment is a perfect splash of pink background and scattered pink petals with the child's dark skin gleaming against her white flower-girl dress. The lovely bride, in a frothy white gown, follows. The collage textures added to the watercolor and colored-pencil illustrations give the book a tactile look. A warm, family-oriented story that children will love.-Janet M. Bair, Trumbull Library, CT
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

PreS-Gr. 2. Being a flower girl is both a blessing and a curse. Sarah, a darling African American child, loves her aunt Judith, but being in her wedding is scary. Twirling around in her new dress is fun and so are the visiting relatives, but Sarah has a whole list of worries: Suppose she forgets to throw the flowers? Maybe her dress will get muddy. When Sarah voices her concerns, her aunt tells her that she'll be sad if Sarah isn't her flower girl. The show goes on, and Sarah's stage fright dissipates as she walks down the aisle. The sentiments expressed in the confessional, free-verse text and in the true-to-life artwork, which uses watercolors, colored pencils, and collage, will capture the hearts of young girls. The vigor of the spreads--the dresses swirling, the madness of wedding day--is juxtaposed with the close-ups of Sarah, worried, ambivalent, and eventually joyful. Gender stereotypes notwithstanding, this is a confection girls will love, laced with honest emotions. For other good books about children's wedding woes see the "Read-alikes: Down the Aisle" [BKL My 1 01]. Ilene Cooper
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 3 and up
  
• Library Binding: 32 pages
• Publisher: Amistad (March 30, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0688178103
• ISBN-13: 978-0688178109
• Product Dimensions: 10.3 x 9.3 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,783,123 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars The Big Day, October 10, 2004

By 

The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers (RAWSISTAZ.com and BlackBookReviews.net) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Flower Girl Butterflies (Library Binding)

FLOWER GIRL BUTTERFLIES tells all about Sarah's preparations to be a flower girl in her Aunt Robin's wedding. She picks out her dress, prepares for visiting family, and attends the wedding rehearsal. Throughout all of these experiences she shares her feelings, at times she is excited and at others she is very nervous. When the big day arrives will she be ready?

Little girls in particular are sure to enjoy this book. The illustrations for the story are absolutely beautiful and really complement the story well. I also enjoyed the fact that Sarah shared her feelings; she described what she was feeling and then labeled it. This modeling is an excellent way for young readers to learn to identify and label their own feelings. However, there was no build up in anticipation of the big wedding day and as a result, the story lacks excitement and read more like a "to do" list for flower girls at times.

Reviewed by Stacey Seay
of The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers

3.0 out of 5 stars Awesome book, but, October 3, 2011

By 

Margaux - See all my reviews

This review is from: Flower Girl Butterflies (Paperback)

This is a great book for a flower girl! I bought this for mine and she enjoys it! Her parents said she didn't put it down when she first received it! The book itself is awesome, great pictures and a nice story line. However, the condition I received it in was not so great. The description said, "Like New." This book was very worn with a sticker and writing on the inside. I have no idea why the seller thought this book was "like new!" I spruced it up as much as I could, but I was totally not pleased with its condition.

5.0 out of 5 stars Perfect for a First Time Flower Girl, June 26, 2006

By 

Y. Fowler - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Flower Girl Butterflies (Hardcover)

My little one was put at ease about the huge responsibility of being a flower girl after several readings of this book.
She knew just what to expect and how to handle "Flower Girl Butterflies".