Flower Talk: How Plants Use Color to Communicate

by Sara Levine, Masha D'yans (Illustrator)

Overview

Pssssst! Did you know plants can talk?

It’s true! Plants use the colors of their flowers to communicate with animals. But why animals? Because they help plants make seeds by moving pollen from one flower to another. Learn the secrets of flower talk from a narrator with an inside scoop!

This new book from Sara Levine features a cantankerous talking cactus as a narrator, revealing to readers the significance of different colors of flowers in terms of which pollinators (bees, bats, birds, etc.) different colors "talk" to. A fun nonfiction presentation of science info that may be new to many kids—and adults!

"[A] marvelous amalgamation of funny and serious."—A Fuse #8 Production

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781541519282
Publisher:	Lerner Publishing Group
Publication date:	03/05/2019
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	507,761
Product dimensions:	8.90(w) x 10.80(h) x 0.40(d)
Lexile:	570L (what's this?)
Age Range:	7 - 8 Years

About the Author

Sara Levine is an author, educator, and veterinarian. Her science books for children include the Animal by Animal series, Germs Up Close, and A Peek at Beaks: Tools Birds Use. Her books have received a number of awards including AAAS/Subaru SB&F Prize, Utah Beehive Book Award, Cook Prize finalist, Monarch Award master list, and Bank Street College Best Children's Book of the Year.

A classically trained painter and graphic designer, Masha D'yans was born in Europe, and her influences include nature, fairy tales, and Japanese art. Her vibrant watercolors have appeared on greeting cards, in calendars, and in children's books. She currently lives in Los Angeles, California. Visit her at www.masha.com.

Editorial Reviews

01/21/2019

A plant who looks like a cross between a purple monster and a prickly pear directly addresses readers, explaining how plants communicate to pollinators: “To make a seed, we need pollen from a different plant of our same type. How do we get that? We can’t just waltz over and take some. That’s why we need animals.” D’yans illustrates garden-variety flowers and insects in vibrant, swooshing watercolors. Levine offers accessible insights into plant life and the mutualism between plants and animals, though the narrator’s casual bluntness (“It’s time for you to leave now. Go take a hike”) can feel at odds with the science-based content and more delicate visual elements. Ages 7–11. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

"A good companion volume for Rebecca Hirsch's Plants Can't Sit Still (2016), this cleverly written and informative picture book is a lively choice for reading aloud."—Booklist

From the Publisher

Winter 2018

PreS-K—A crotchety cactus explains how flowers use color, shape, and even smell to attract pollinators. Flowers aren't talking to humans; they're talking to animals, those animals that can help them make their seeds through pollination. The text covers only cross-pollination; self-pollination is mentioned in the back matter. The narrator reveals which pollinators are attracted to what: red colors for birds; blue, purple, and yellow for bees; a perfumed white for moths and bats; stinky brown for flies; and a nice steady platform in many colors for butterflies. Green flowers appear on plants pollinated by wind. And the cactus adds, "Blue and purple flowers are saying: 'Yo, bee! Could you help me move some of this pollen? And take some home for the kids!' " D'yans's watery paintings are especially appropriate for the subject, providing realistic variations in shading and revealing a gentle humor—the cactus drinks tea with a tea bag hanging rakishly from an ear; a bee has blossoms instead of stars in its eyes. For older readers, back matter explains pollination in more detail, with illustrations of pistils and stamens and developing seeds in the flower's ovary. A final note explains that some pollinators are endangered and suggests ways to help. There's also a short list of further reading. VERDICT Similar to Rita Gray's Flowers Are Calling, with a slightly more prickly appeal. Consider this a strong choice for most nonfiction shelves.—Kathleen Isaacs, Children's Literature Specialist, Pasadena, MD

School Library Journal