Bloom

by Anne Booth, Robyn Wilson-Owen (Illustrator)

There was once a beautiful flower and a little girl who loved it. She talked to it every morning on her way to school. The owner of the flower shouted at her. The next day, the flower did not open. The angry man didn't understand. He tried watering it. He tried giving it shade and he tried talking to it. He told it how wonderful he was, how important his job was and how lonely he felt. But it still refused to open. So, he asked the little girl. "Why don't you tell it how wonderful it is and how much you love it?" she said. As he did so, his own heart filled with love. And the flower bloomed.

Genres: Picture Books, Fiction, Nature, Childrens, Gardening, Emotion, Friendship

Hardcover

First published September 1, 2020

About the author

Anne Booth always wanted to be a children’s writer, but has also cleared tables in a restaurant, sold books, been a tour guide at a haunted medieval hospital, taught English in Italy, and organized arts and crafts in a nursing home, among other things. Anne Booth lives in Kent, England, with her husband, four children, two hens, and two dogs.

Reviews

[Sarah Gerard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful moral to the story- about a girl who talks to a plant. The owner stops her from doing this and the plant begins to die. When confused as to why, he seeks the girl and asks what she said to the plant. She tells him the importance of saying kind words to the plant, appreciating it and saying how great it is. Would be perfect for PSHE thinking about how to treat others. The text really illustrates that horrible, selfish words can ‘kill’ [people], and stop them from growing (perhaps emotionally, as their confidence is knocked). Kindness is so importance and makes people ‘bloom’.

[Amy Aldridge · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really heart-warming lovely story. I can see children really enjoying this book. I especially liked the use of colour in the illustrations, how some drawings were completed in black and white with little colour and others bursting full, all help in showing the moral of the story. A story about hope, friendship and working together.

[Frances Coe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simply gorgeous

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Any teacher who has spent much time with students knows that a kind and encouraging word or two can make all the difference in the world. In this picture book, readers will see that such encouragement can even coax a recalcitrant flower to bloom. A small girl enjoys seeing the flower on her way to school, and she often stops to express her admiration for its beauty. But one day when she passes by on the way to school with her brother, the flower's owner overhears her and berates her. After all, it's HIS flower, and she should leave it alone. Intimidated by his anger, the girl does that and changes her route to school. After that, the flower does not bloom despite the man's efforts to water it, shield it from the sun, and talk to it, sharing all of his complaints and woes. He criticizes his gardener because she has been unsuccessful in getting the flower to open up, and eventually he reaches out to the little girl for help. After hearing how she spoke to the flower, the man decides to try something different. Instead of focusing on how lucky the flower is to grow in his garden, he acknowledges how much he loves it and how beautiful it is. Finally, the flower blooms, just as many of us will bloom when our strengths are acknowledged and we are nurtured in just the right way. The use of pinks, reds, and greens in the images add to the book's visual appeal. My favorite page showed the man crouched down by the flower as he ordered it to bloom. Ah, but that certainly never works, does it? Parents, caregivers, and teachers might share this with youngsters as a reminder to treat others with kindness and pay attention to the small wonders in the world around them.

[Olivia · Rating 4 out of 5]

See my full review here: https://www.yabookscentral.com/kidsfi...

BLOOM is a sweet picture book about the power of kind words. A young girl passes by a beautiful flower in front of a big house every day and tells it how wonderful it is and how much she loves it. That is, until the old man who lives there tells her not to talk to his flower. The next day, he is surprised when the flower won't bloom. He blames his gardener and tries everything he can think of to take care of the flower, while telling it how important he is and how lucky it is to be in his garden. Eventually, he learns from the little girl how to talk to his flower, and he realizes that he is lucky to have it and that it is wonderful.

What I loved: The story is simple and conveys the power of kind words (not just for flowers). This is an important theme and is demonstrated so beautifully in this story. The illustrations bring the story to life with bright colors, a large and pretty flower, and fun characters. The font is clear and easy to read throughout, making this a great choice for story time. The length of the story and amount of text on each page works well for toddlers through elementary school aged readers.

Final verdict: A heartfelt story with an important theme, BLOOM is a sweet picture book read about the importance of kind words and appreciation. Lovely illustrations add to the fun of this great read.

Please note that I received a review copy. All opinions are my own.

[Ella · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little girl and her brother walk past a flower and talk to it, they are told by its owner to go away. The children stop walking past the flower on their way to school and it begins to die. The man speaks to it like the girl did but only talks about and praises himself. He goes in search of the girl to help him save his flower and she teaches him that you must compliment the flower and not yourself all the time.
Fantastic links to PSHE and how you should treat others, giving a visual image (the flower) of how people may feel when you treat them in different ways. There are links to friendship and bullying. There are also links to science and what conditions plants need to be able to grow. A good moral to the story which could be explored through discussion after reading or further through a PSHE session or series of lessons with the book used to plan a unit of work.

[Lauren Drake · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little girl and her brother walk past a flower every day on their way to school and talks to it. The mean owner of the flower shouts at the girl and her brother and tell them not to come back. Following this, the flower fails to bloom, the owner tries everything but nothing works! He speaks to the flower, but only tells it how important he is and how great it is to be his flower, but still the flower does not bloom. Upset, the man goes to find the girl who points out that to make it bloom, you need to compliment it and not yourself. After doing this, the flower starts to bloom.
This book highlights the importance of being kind. It would also make a great PSHE topic book to encourage discussion about friendship, kindness and how to treat others. I think that this book would be suitable across the primary years.

[Lottie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautifully illustrated childrens book that highlights the importance of encouraging and saying kind things to each other. When the little girl talks to the plant everyday and tells it how beautiful is, the flower continues to bloom. However, when the owner of the plant stops the child from doing this the flower shuts. Much to the owners dismay, no matter what he does he cant get the flower to open up again. That is until he also starts to tell the flower how beautiful it is.

The book has a lot of potential to be used within a classroom setting as the basis for many lessons, including PSHE lessons on being kind to each other. It also highlighted as a parent the impartance of talking positively to our children and encouraging them to be the best that they can.

[Samantha Prodromou · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really lovely story. There are so many wonderful but subtle features to point out while reading with kids.

I love how the story continues, for the most part, with only words from the old man's perspective - but continues to show the little girl's happy family on the left side of the book.

Showing the contrast of the bright coloured happy family versus the blue and grey coloured home of the grouchy old man is great. I also loved the little feature of the framed picture of the old man (as a young boy) growing up with his flower, looking quite happy. It really makes you wonder what happened to him.

As others have mentioned, the story teaches a good lesson about kind words building up and unkind words tearing down. And I love that the story has a happy ending.

Overall, great!

[The Library Mouse Tales · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story begins with a beautiful flower and a little girl who loves it. She talks to the flower every morning as she passes it on her way to school.

One day the mean owner of the flower shouts at the little girl and tells her to stay away from his flower. Without visits from the girl, the flower does not open and starts to wither away. The angry owner doesn’t understand what is wrong with the plant. He gives it water, shade and even tries telling it why it must open for him.

But nothing works and eventually he asks the girl for advice. She says, “Why don’t you tell it how wonderful it is and how much you love it?” Only when he is kind to the flower and shows it love does the flower begin to bloom again.

This is a special book with really nice illustrations. It makes you ask lots of questions about why the old man is so angry and selfish. Luckily, the little girl can teach him an important lesson about kindness. By being kind and being a good friend to others (plant, animal or person), our own lives can be so much better and happier.

[Natasha Woodcraft · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful children's book with a powerful message.
I have only recently discovered this author, but I am so glad I have.
She produces books for children that are deeply thought-provoking, in a calming, reassuring manner. This story encourages kindness, without any of the frivolity that some other books possess.
My children (11,6,5) all love it and ask for it to be read repeatedly. I happily oblige.

[Zoe Hickey · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book all about hope - something which we all need right now. A story with a beautiful ending with friendship blooming between two people from different generations. I think this would be great to share with children who could then take time to visit a home for older people to see the beautiful impact they can have on old people's mental health.

[Liberty Turner · Rating 4 out of 5]

-Gratitude
-Talking nice and encouraging words

[Sorca · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favourite books of 2020! This heartening story is filled to the brim with warmth and kindness. A book to add to every KS1 classroom!

[Edward Sullivan · Rating 3 out of 5]

The remarkable power of kind words.

[Abby Cladingboel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very well illustrated book with a really nice message about the impact that kind words can have on growth.

[Thomasin Propson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Charming! 4 stars for both the illustrations and the “message.”

[Isobel · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lovely story about a girl who talks to a plant. The owner stops her from doing this and the plant begins to die. When confused as to why he seeks the girl and asks what she said to the plant. She tells how to treat the kind by saying kind words to it, appreciating it, and appreciating its true beauties. how great it is. Would be perfect for PSHE to think about how to treat others. The text really illustrates that horrible, selfish words can affect people's emotional feelings and knock their confidence.

Similar to 'The Extraordinary Gardener' by Sam Boughton.
I believe that book would link with 'The Extraordinary Gardener' by Sam Boughton because they both value the importance of kindness affecting people's emotions, e.g. the neighbours were grateful for Joe's kind actions of sharing his gardening experiences and plants with them and the plant appreciate the child's kind and caring compliments. Kindness is very important it makes people and plants appreciate us.

[The Silvan Reverie | Sarah Street]

I love the underlying message in this book -- that words matter and kindness goes a long way. I think the resolution happens a bit too neatly: it takes just one flip of the page for the harsh and grumpy man to "get it" and change his ways when overall his tone and character seemed really deep-seated. Overall this felt a little heavy-handed, but I value the message.

**Note: I was given review copy of this book by Publisher's Spotlight. Opinions are my own.