Bloom

by Ruth Forman, Talia Skyles (Illustrator)

Overview

From the author of Curls and Glow comes a joyfully poetic board book that delivers an ode to African American girls as naturally beautiful in our human garden.

those girls bloom
these do too

we bloom like flowers
how about you?

Introduce young readers to the idea of self-love in a simple, playful rhythm with this luminous story where each little girl is as unique and beautiful as a blossoming flower.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781665903035
Publisher:	Little Simon
Publication date:	04/26/2022
Pages:	26
Sales rank:	85,841
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 6.50(h) x 0.70(d)
Age Range:	3 Months to 18 Years

About the Author

Ruth Forman is the author of bestselling children’s books Curls, Glow, Bloom, Ours, One, and Like So, as well as award-winning poetry collections We Are the Young Magicians and Renaissance.

Talia Skyles is a Baltimore-based illustrator and painter and is currently working towards her BFA at the Maryland Institute College of Art. Growing up in a family that appreciated the arts, she fell in love with painting both digitally and traditionally at an early age. She currently loves telling stories and creating colorful, emotionally expressive illustrations with a sprinkle of whimsy. Inspired by fantasy books and films, Impressionism, and Rembrandt-era master portraits, she often blends these motifs with strong female subjects to create portraits that feel both classical and modern. She’s also intrigued by color and light and enjoys exploring its impact on the composition, emotion, and storytelling of her work. When not at her drawing table, Talia enjoys reading books, roller-skating with friends, and taking care of her many plant children.

Editorial Reviews

05/01/2022

PreS-Gr 2—With spare punctuation and only lowercase letters, Forman writes the ultimate comparison of small Black girls to flowers during what appears to be a glorious summer day in a garden. Skyles's art, taking its cues from the sing-song words, unfurls in lovely saturated scenes, from "this girl blooms / this girl too / that girl blooms / that one too / those girls bloom / these do too / we bloom like flowers / how about you?" to an array of shades of brown skin, locs and delphiniums, large smiles and shy ones, puffed hair and braids, butterflies and sunflowers. These idyllic scenes are as welcoming and joyful as a day in the sun, and the chantable words will have preschoolers swaying along. VERDICT A welcome purchase; whether the discussion is beauty, self-esteem, or the use of empowering metaphors, this brief but lyrical tone poem teaches all children that they are flowers and should be cherished as such.—Kimberly Olson Fakih

School Library Journal