Anne Orange

I had mixed feelings about “The Flower Book”. I liked the book because it used very simple sentences and word choice to describe the flowers and how they grow. For instance, “My daises have white petals. They have bright gold centers” or “I planted them in a sunny spot. I water them often. They need a lot of care.” However, I did not like the book because the words and descriptions in the book did not always match up with the illustrations and insinuated that the book was interactive, even though it wasn’t. For example, in the daisy section the book says, “Feel how soft the centers are” and in the lily section it says, “Smell the flowers. How sweet they smell!” Since children take things very literally, this may confuse a child who wonders why he/she can’t smell the flowers or why when he/she touches the page it does not feel soft. The author also writes, “Tulips come in many beautiful colors” and “My geraniums are red” but the accompanying pictures are black. I do not think this would interest a child as much as it would if she actually included very colorful, accurate illustrations. The main idea of the book is to describe many different kinds of flowers and how they grow.… (more)

Summary:
This book talks about different types of flowers found in a garden the speaker has planted. Each chapter talks about a different flower and is accompanied by a picture.

Review:
I have given the book only two stars because I really didn't feel the book had much to offer. The information about the flowers is absolutely basic. While this might be justified because of it's intended young audience, I think he value of an informational title like this one lies in the author's ability to convey valuable information in a way young children can understand. While children will certainly be able to understand the content of the book, he author includes little information about the flower other than it's name and whether of not that particular kind of flower smells good. The book would not even teach children to identify he flowers. While he illustrations are beautiful, they distort the flowers making them uncomplimentary to he genre the author is writing in. On one entry, for example, the author describes the beautiful colors of tulips along with it's shape. The accompanying picture is a black and white blurry silhouette, easily identifiable as a tulip if are already familiar with them, but if you are not, as could be the case with a small child trying to learn about flowers, the picture is not helpful at all.

The book also lacks a glossary which i found upsetting because it does include a number of highlited vocabulary words.… (more)