Kindergarten-Grade 3-Fourteen brief tales about different flowers. In a story from Sicily, a poor boy's kindness to an old woman is repaid in part with crocuses, while in a Russian tale, a dwarf shows a poor man how to make a living with the beautiful snapdragons that surround his home. The Great Spirit settles a quarrel by turning squabbling chiefs into columbines in an Iroquois legend, a sad Japanese tale features peonies, and a young couple's loyalty and heroism are at the heart of a Hawaiian story about the origins of the morning glory. These tales and the others are presented, for the most part, on one page facing a gouache illustration in muted jewel tones on the other. The selections are brief to the point of being skimpy, and there are no source notes except for the bibliography of titles. The illustrations are appealing, and there is great potential in the concept, but most libraries can pass on this one.
Donna L. Scanlon, Lancaster County Library, PA
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
Ages 6-8. Here's a pretty gathering of folk tales about flowers. Each flower tale is only a page or two long, very compressed but still recognizable in the telling. The tales range from a Sicilian story of a crocus sprung from a poor boy's kindness, to a tale in which the prophet Mohammed's linen shirt turns a common mallow plant into a bright and scented geranium. Dillard's dry and rather formal gouache style works better for the flower images, clear and botanically correct, than for the figures. A bibliography (of adult research titles) is appended. GraceAnne DeCandido
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