Perfect Picture Book Friday: Flowers Talk

You probably know that milkweed is very important to monarch butterflies because that's where they lay their eggs and then the caterpillars eat the leaves to grow big and strong so they can become butterflies. When it comes to quenching a butterflies thirst, they enjoy the nectar of many different types of flowers.

Flower Talk: How Plants Use Color to Communicate

Author: Sara Levine (www.saralevinebooks.com)
Illustrated by: Masha D'Yans (www.masha.com)

Published by: Millbrook Press, 2019

Themes: STEM,  Flowers, Nature, pollination

Ages: 6 - 11

Synopsis: A grouchy cantankerous cactus (prickly pear variety) tells the audience about how flowers use their colors, shapes, and scents to attract insects, birds, and and even mammals to help them make their seeds.

First Lines: "Hey, you! Pssst! Down Here! That's right -- I'm a plant, and I'm talking to you! But don't get too used to it. We don't make a habit of talking to humans."

Why I love this book: Pollinators are all the rage these days. We do need to save the bees and butterflies so it's a good thing we are talking about it! This books looks at the ecosystem and food web from the point of view of the flower and the symbiotic relationship between flowers and pollinators. It helps us understand the role that flowers and plants play in in the food web. This non-fiction story that will make you look at flowers in a new way.

Masha's watercolor illustrations are bright and exciting. The cactus narrator's prickly personality comes through on each page.

Excellent backmatter about flower pollination.

And really, talking to plants is fun. We should do it more often. You never know what you will discover.

A Q&A with Sara Levine

The blog post where I learned about this book.

Activities:

Create your own flower or nature scavenger hunt. Use the same one each season and see what things are the same and what things are different.

Take a hike in your local parks or forest preserves.

Start a Nature Journal

Play with watercolors. I found this little Nature Sketchbook that is easy to take with me and works well with all types of art mediums. Great for making art on the go or as a nature journal. I love this little watercolor set because it's easy to take with you and has lots of colors. A watercolor brush that holds water makes painting on the go super easy.

Make your own pollinator garden or participate in a local community garden.
A pollinator garden can be as small as a pot of native plants on your balcony or front porch. Make sure that you choose flowers that are native to where you live. Those flowers will provide the best food sources for native insects and birds.

And . . . If you want to find more cool picture books check out Susanna Hill's Blog where you can look for reviews by book, title, and by themes.