Customer Reviews

The Reason for a Flower

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I love this book! The text is fun to read and really easy to understand while introducing some big scientific words. And the pictures are big and colorful, and I really mean BIG and COLORFUL. But even more than that, they are accurate--the flowers, seeds, animals, and insects can all be identified down to the species. Towards the end it gets a little off topic, but even these pages are filled with interesting flower-facts that get you interested in further exploration of the world of flowers. There's even a touch of humor: after pages of large, flamboyant illustrations, the final page contains a single mushroom and the text, "Plants that have no flowers are fascinating, too." I had to laugh at the simplicity and effectiveness of this ending. Last, but not least, the endpapers have a wonderful drawing that shows a flower progressing into a fruit--a wonderful summary of the purpose of the book without using any words. This book definitely gets my recommendation for anyone who wants to introduce their kids to the world of science and nature in an unintimidating, yet accurate and enjoyable format.

Children are constantly asking questions and sometimes they come up with a question you have difficulty answering, such as "why do we have flowers?". This book answers that question in a way that is both fascinating and entertaining for both children and adults. The illustrations in this book were quite lovely and almost tell a story themselves. The rhythmic cadence of the words introduces children to a biological vocabulary without being overwhelming, describes the different parts of the plants, explains the process of pollination, and illustrates what value plants have beyond just "something pretty to look." This book is a great book for teachers of young children for science related curriculm.

Ruth Heller's rhymes and beautiful pictures engage children and clearly illustrates pollination and the role of flowers.

Ruth Heller writes a compelling and entertaining story. The illustrations are great and the pacing of the book is engaging. However, as a scientist and informal science educator, I was disappointed by a few inaccuracies in the text that could be easily corrected if a new edition of this book were published. First, an anther is part of the stamen and rests on the filament (in the book she writes " From an anther on a stamen"). Second, fungi are no longer considered a type of plant. Minus these two things this book is a great teaching tool which I've used with many students to discuss floral anatomy and plant life cycles. I've sidestepped the inaccuracies by using it as an opportunity to discuss with students the importance of using multiple literature sources when studying a topic.

This is a wonderful book, a beautiful book for young children. The illustrations are fine, bold, and beautiful, even for children who cannot read. If they can read, it will hold the attention of a child up to 8 years (or even 9). It is an early childhood book, but like many books for early childhood, even adults can learn. The six year olds who read this book, girls, in our special education class, loved, loved it. They read along, and listened. It is a book for all children, especially girls. I'd say that this is a book, that, like The Rainbow Fish, should be in every early childhood classroom. It is a wonderful gift also, for little girls. (no motive for this review, except to pass this on to the reader).

The illustrations in Heller's book are very engaging. They help the young learner K-2 understand more about the life cycle of a plant.

Having purchased this book to use in teaching a class to small shildren, I am always delighted to see just how much excellent info and clear pictures are included in such a pleasant and appealing style-a poem musically winds through the book, holding the attention of the younger child to gently plant the seeds of information in their fertile little heads!

Exceptional illustratiions open up the beauty of nature to young readers. The flower seems to bloom before your very eyes......