Welcome to the Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge that Alyson Beecher hosts at Kid Lit Frenzy each Wednesday. Visit Alyson for the link-up to lots more posts about nonfiction picture books.
I saw SO many beautiful nonfiction picture books last week at NCTE. My brain is bursting (and so is my tbr shelf). I picked up an F&G of Fantastic Flowers (Peachtree, 2017), by Susan Stockdale, and I love it!
The text is one rhyming poem that compares different flowers to all sorts of things they resemble, as proven by the colorful, bold illustrations. It opens:
Flowers in shapes that surprise and delight.
Upside-down pants,
a parrot in flight.
Sure enough, the illos of Dutchman’s breeches and a parrot flower (shown in actual photos in the nicely informative backmatter) do look exactly like that.
What a fun book to get kids thinking in comparisons and metaphors! Explorer and photographer Sebastian Copeland said, “[P]hotography has been my weapon. With images, my mission would be to help people fall in love with their world, because I feel we will not save what we do not love.” I love that quotation. And it’s true. We have to connect–to the world, to other people, to things outside of our own sphere of knowledge. Once we connect, we grow to love. Once we love, we protect. When kids look at flowers and see lips and baboons and ballerinas, I think they’ll be surprised and enchanted. And connected. That’s the first step.
Now I’m off to connect with more of Susan’s earlier books, of which I think I’ve only read one. More fun ahead, I’m sure.
That sounds like a wonderful book for some grandkids I know! I love having them notice things like that early on in life. You’ll notice forever then! Thanks for sharing some of the bounty!
Exactly, Donna:>) Great point about building creative thinkers early!
I love nonfiction books (like yours!) that elegantly use poetic devices. This one will go on my TBR!
Thank you, Annette:>) I hope you enjoy this one!
What a creative idea. Sounds like something a little 5 yr. old great-grand will enjoy. She has been looking for shapes she recognizes in the clouds for a couple of summers now. You have such a selfless attitude toward the work of your peers. Very admirable I might add. Thanks for bringing this book forward.
Aw, thanks, Martha. It’s always a juggling act of wanting to share my work and also spread the word of other writers’ creations and also just wanting to connect with the community. I appreciate your kind words:>)
I had the opportunity to read Fantastic Flowers. It’s a fantastic book and kids will have fun identifying what each flower looks like. I’ve read all of Susan Stockdale’s books and they are so great and kid-friendly.
I’m definitely going to look for the rest of them. 🙂
Our Botanical Gardens has a sort of scavenger hunt for plants and flowers with certain common names that “mean” what they are, like “pitcher” plant. It’s a lot of fun to search and guess why. This book reminds me of that, looks wonderful, Laura.
Yes! How fun to do that. I love when museums and such have playful activities:)
What fun! I love nonfiction poetry, I think the two formats just work together beautifully, yet they’re rarely combined.
“We will not save what we do not love.” This is so true! This book looks like a real beauty. Thank you for sharing!
I think about that quotation often. My job with books isn’t to tell kids to save the world, it’s to make kids fall in love with the world, so they WANT to save it:>) Similar to teaching!
I picked this one up too! I’ll be featuring it at some point 🙂
F&Gs are a double-edged sword. I love having paper and real art to see, rather than the digital version. But it’s hard to hold them, I make a mess, and I never know what to do with them when I’m finished with them. What do you do with them? Just curious :>)