As we head closer and closer to a new season. Spring is in the air and this delightful book is perfect, for the season that is all about flowers, let us introduce you to Footpath Flowers by Jon Arno Lawson and Sidney Smith.
Let’s Meet the Book
Another beautiful wordless picture book… and yet the story is quite clear. A little girl wearing a bright red coat, in a black and white world, is taking a walk beside her father. They have been to the store, maybe run some errands and are taking an ordinary walk on an ordinary day. Her father is on the phone doing this and doing that and this small girl is not distracted by the doings of the dour adults around her. She is absorbed and focused on her wondrous walk… as she walks along she starts to spot flowers growing on the sidewalk and as she discovers them so more colours enter into the story… they walk on and the adults remain aloof and distracted, but she notices more and more flowers… she notices a little dead bird on the path and while other folk have walked by, not noticing, she leaves some flowers beside the bird, and so begins her gifting journey. She leaves some flowers in a dog’s collar and continues to give little spontaneous gifts to people around her. As those around her receive their little gifts so the attitude of the story becomes more colourful and joyful. The illustrations tell the story, you can feel the path as you take a walk with this little gal… and anyone who has taken a walk with a child will know that an ordinary walk for grownups is anything but an ordinary walk for a young child. This books captures the essence of that… and leaves the grownup reader with a sense of “remember when” and the child reader with a sense of adventure, “what’s next.” This is a very clever book, that should be left lying on coffee tables for folks of all ages to read and discover for themselves. It is quite a magical capture… a poignant reminder that tiny gifts can make the biggest difference to someone’s day. You will want to spend a little time in this book again and again. You can watch the book trailer here.
Let’s Make Some Spring Flowers
We decided to make some flowers and spontaneously gift them on…
We began by drawing flowers with black Sharpie Marker…
And then filling them with watercolours paints…
Until we had a bright, colourful collection…
Lots and lots of flowers…
Cut them all out…
And a table full of flowers…
Project glue and skewer sticks… and our flowers were ready to gift on…
I am sure you can think of many folk to gift some flowers on to… hope they enjoy them.
Previous Picture Book Party Posts
This post forms part of The Picture Book Party with PanMacmillan South Africa.
- Hoot Owl: And How to Make Your Own One…
- Where’s Wally Colouring Book: Se7en Steps to Your Own Colouring Page…
- I Am Henry Finch: And fabulous fingerprint activities…
- Aaron Becker’s Journey: And Magical Flying Carpets. And the sequel: Quest: With some Marvellous Maps.
- We Are Going on a Bear Hunt: Creating your own Memory Stories…
- Where’s Wally – The Mini Book Box Set: Make Magnificent Magical Magnifying Glasses.
- Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs: And Chocolate Cake in a Mug.
Thank you so much to PanMacmillan South Africa for the copy of Footpath Flowers for review purposes and the invitation to join the Picture Book Party. This is not a sponsored post, we were not paid to create it and the opinions expressed are, as usual, our own.
You guys always do such great stuff. Those flowers are awesome 🙂
Those flowers are so stunning….
And I feel like we have gone from winter to summer
Hay Cassey, ahhh, with a collection of girls, they are always eager to make flowers!!! Fun times… Hope you have a great week!!!
Thank you MrsFF, Oh to have some spring… I knew we hadn’t had nearly enough winter yet… and we have had a week of rain!!! It has been lovely actually, just enjoying being in one spot for a couple of days!!! Hope you have had a lovely week!!!