The Flower

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Brigg lives in a small, grey room in a large, grey city. When he finds a book in the library labelled 'Do Not Read', he cannot resist taking it home. In it, he comes upon pictures of bright, vibrant objects called flowers. He cannot find flowers anywhere in the city, but stumbles instead on a packet of seeds. This sets off a chain of events which bring about unexpected results, continuing to grow and bloom even after we have turned the last page. John Light's enigmatic story is told with utter simplicity, but resonates long after we finish reading this book. His increasingly optimistic vision is hauntingly captured by Lisa Evans's beautiful and whimsical illustrations.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Horn Book Review

In a bleak futuristic world where everyone looks like a member of the Addams family, a boy discovers a picture of a flower in a forbidden book. Drawn to its beauty, he grows his own flower, which is then sucked up by his ""room cleaning system."" Reminiscent of The Little Prince, this conservation parable is too precious to be effective. The haunting art swings between lovely and gruesome. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.