The Flower Hunter: William Bartram, America's First Naturalist

by Deborah Kogan Ray

Of John Bartram's nine children, it is William who best loves nature and wants to follow in his father's footsteps. William dreams of accompanying his father as he explores the wilderness of colonial America as botanist to the King of England in search of plant specimens. Using journals, maps, and her own vibrant paintings, Deborah Kogan Ray tells the captivating story of Billy's first trip to the Catskill Mountains and his further adventures as an adult, including a long, perilous journey into the remote wilderness.
A bibliography, biographical notes, and list of plant discoveries complete this remarkable book about America's first naturalist.

Genres: Science, Biography, Picture Books, Nature, History, Childrens, Nonfiction

40 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 2004

Reviews

[Ben Truong · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Flower Hunter: William Bartram, America's First Naturalist is a children's picture book written and illustrated by Deborah Kogan Ray. It centers on William Bartram, who loves nature and would become America's first naturalist.

William Bartram was an American botanist, ornithologist, natural historian, and explorer. Bartram was author of an acclaimed book, now known by the shortened title Bartram's Travels, which chronicled his explorations of the southern British colonies in North America from 1773–1777.

Ray's text is rather simplistic, straightforward, and informative. Rooted in history, offers a diary-style account of young William Bartram's studies of nature, including his travels with his botanist father. Backmatter includes an extended biography. Ray's illustrates each passage with a mix of maps, sketches, and larger scenes of the two figures in settings from forest to swamp.

The premise of the book is rather straightforward. It highlights certain episodes during a nearly 30-year period as the pair traversed the Southeast, discovering and identifying numerous botanical species along the way.

All in all, The Flower Hunter: William Bartram, America's First Naturalist is a wonderful biography of William Bartram, the first naturalist who penetrated the dense tropical forests of Florida.

[Luann · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love Deborah Kogan Ray's illustrations here - especially the sketches as if they are in William Bartram's journal and the endpapers which show a very nice map of William Bartram's travels. I thought there could have been more detail in the text, though. The text is written as if it is William Bartram's journal, which starts on his eighth birthday. After just a couple of entries, he is suddenly six years older and going on his first journey with his father. After just a couple more entries, we suddenly skip 10 years and he is now a grown man joining his father on another expedition and then continuing to explore the wilderness of North and South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. I get that this is a picture book for children and not a full-blown biography, but this still felt a bit sparse to me. Instead of starting the text with "Journal of Wm. Bartram," I would have liked it to say something like "Excerpts from ..." and then I wouldn't have cared as much when it suddenly skipped so many years. That said, I do think it is a nice book to introduce children to William Bartram, America's first naturalist.

[Heather Tully · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lovely picture book- our 2nd family read aloud of 2025. We looked up Bartram’s prints and pulled out maps to see locations. this paired well with our special studies of flowers this term!

[Judy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I appreciated this book, but it's hard to imagine kids enjoying the story. I wonder what age DK Ray was picturing as her target audience. This seems to be written in journal style with additional commentary. Here's the second entry:

September 1747
Father and I collected seeds from the red maple trees today
"Long before I was born, Father planted a few red maple trees from seeds he had collected. More trees planted themselves when the wind carried their seeds all over our hillside. ... "

It would have helped considerably to spend a few more pages hearing more about Billy's childhood so young readers could begin to identify with the boy. Most of the writing is fairly passive, which doesn't make for an engaging story.

Most kids have very little familiarity with the natural world. More illustrations would have helped. For example, in April of 1750, we read that
I [Billy] spied pink lungwort - a species of Pulmonaria. I recognized it from a description in Father's botanical notes.

Why isn't there a picture of the pink lungwort? Ten drawings of flowers are included in the Afterword, but I don't know why these ten were included but not ones that were discussed in the story.

It would be great to have a new edition of this book with a more engaging style and format.

[A Allen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Unnecessarily wordy for a children's book. Written as if these pages are Billy's journal entries and the story spans 30 years of Billy's life! Billy is interested in nature and, as he grows older, joins his father on long treks to learn about America's plants. Billy draws plants and animals that he sees, writes about some of the difficulties on his journeys, mentions a bit about war, safety, and uncertainty, explains that he is learning from native tribes, talks about his parents aging, and more. At the very back of the book, Ray writes, "Contrary to the prevailing attitudes of the time, his was a lone voice urging protection of the land and respect for the native peoples." I do think it is cute that the native people gave him a name meaning "flower hunter" and I appreciate Billy's friendship with the natives. I can't say what, if anything, in particular I dislike about the book, but it is just okay in my opinion.

[Jennifer Ritchie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I expected to have my 3rd grader read this book for homeschool, as she is a budding little naturalist herself. It looked like the perfect book for her! But I’m putting it back on the library shelf. The maps are confusing, the writing is deadly dull, and there is even a grammatical error where the author has a character use “thee” in a sentence where it should have been “thou.” Sure, I’m being a nitpicky grammar snob, but that kind of mistake, for me, calls into question the author’s knowledge of her subject. And if I’m not confident that the author knows what she’s talking about, why would I have my child read this?

[Judy · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a wonderful picture book biography to learn about William Bartram, America's First Naturalist. I knew nothing about him and his discovery of the flower, Franklinia, named for his friend Benjamin Franklin.

[Shelli · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an interesting look at America’s first naturalist, William Bartram; his inspirational father, his passion for nature and quiet yet determined mission to analyze and catalog the plant and animal species of colonial/early America.

[Holly · Rating 3 out of 5]

I actually think this is an excellent book, but because it is a little longer and written in a way that is more of a diary style, my younger kids weren't as interested as I was. But I would definitely recommend it for the middle school ages.

[Hope Irvin Marston · Rating 5 out of 5]

Am excellent picture biography with an intriguing text and lovely full page artistry.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can't believe this man give up his whole life to track plants! The drawings of the leaves are incredible. The rest of the art I do not like.

[Erendira · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lovely diary entries of Billy Bartram and his early passion for nature alongside the teaching from his father, John Bartram. Lovely illustrations.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved how it talked about the relationship with Benjamin Franklin and the history of America during the time of their life. The set up of quoting his journal was inspiring.

[Geo Hendrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

I didn't realize when I got the book it was a true story. It was awesome! Loved the Artwork and drawings! I'm keeping this book!

[Stephanie Smoot · Rating 5 out of 5]

A story about William Bartram’s life, the first naturalist, and the passion he has for nature. This book would be great to integrate into science and history and discussing how a person’s passion can become a reality for some people.

[Marianna · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Bartram's were unknown to me before reading this book. I like the journal style format, but would have liked a bit more information in each entry. Large blocks of time passed between each "entry" which affected the flow of the story.

[Dolly · Rating 4 out of 5]

interesting quote:

"But I care nothing about riches, except those that exist in nature." (p. 17)

[Michael Fitzgerald · Rating 5 out of 5]

Teaches as much about the subject of botany as it does about the man (and his father) and their fascinating journeys. Excellent author's notes. Illustration style is not ideal, but very adequate.