The Forever Flowers

by Michael J. Rosen, Sonja Danowski (Illustrator)

Overview

In this tender story about the virtues of finding, keeping, and letting go, a young grouse is waylaid on her seasonal migration and carries her precious cargo to a new land. As the bird's favorite Forever Flowers grow from planted seeds to blooming flowers, she discovers how unexpectedly one can stumble upon happiness and breathe into the contentment of life's quiet moments, even amidst the winter's dark. When spring arrives again, though, the grouse must make a decision: should she stay or fly away?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781568462738
Publisher:	Creative Company, The
Publication date:	08/19/2014
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	9.00(w) x 12.10(h) x 0.40(d)
Lexile:	800L (what's this?)
Age Range:	6 - 8 Years

About the Author

Michael J. Rosen is an author, illustrator, and photographer who has created more than 90 books for children and adults. He holds degrees in zoology and poetry and served for nearly 20 years as literary director of the Thurber House, a cultural center in the boyhood home of renowned author James Thurber in Columbus, Ohio. He lives on a farm in the Appalachian foothills of eastern Ohio.

Sonja was born in Iserlohn, Germany and is currently working and living as an artist and illustrator in Berlin.

Editorial Reviews

07/14/2014
In an allegorical story about time, change, and acceptance, a grouse mourns the loss of summer, clinging to a bouquet of “Forever Flowers—the first to appear, the last to disappear.” As other birds migrate, urging the grouse to let go of the old and embrace the new, the weight of the flowers causes the bird to plunge into an icy river. She is rescued by a gentle spaniel, who takes her to his cabin home, where he lives with a flaxen-haired girl whose chiseled features and old-fashioned attire make it difficult to determine her age or the era. Danowski spikes the muted palette of her lushly detailed mixed-media artwork with dashes of red as the girl, dog, and grouse await spring inside the cozily cluttered cottage and prematurely picnic outdoors, until a “darkening chill ushered the three home.” The sophisticated prose (“Darkness buried some days. Sunlight lifted others. The grouse, it appeared, felt that impatience could hurry the seasons”), infused with melancholy, should hold particular magic for sensitive readers who perceive in a falling leaf more than simply the arrival of autumn. Ages 6–8. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

"In an allegorical story about time, change, and acceptance, a grouse mourns the loss of summer, clinging to a bouquet of "Forever Flowers-the first to appear, the last to disappear." As other birds migrate, urging the grouse to let go of the old and embrace the new, the weight of the flowers causes the bird to plunge into an icy river. She is rescued by a gentle spaniel, who takes her to his cabin home, where he lives with a flaxen-haired girl whose chiseled features and old-fashioned attire make it difficult to determine her age or the era. Danowski spikes the muted palette of her lushly detailed mixed-media artwork with dashes of red as the girl, dog, and grouse await spring inside the cozily cluttered cottage and prematurely picnic outdoors, until a 'darkening chill ushered the three home.' The sophisticated prose ('Darkness buried some days. Sunlight lifted others. The grouse, it appeared, felt that impatience could hurry the seasons'), infused with melancholy, should hold particular magic for sensitive readers who perceive in a falling leaf more than simply the arrival of autumn." - Publishers Weekly

From the Publisher

12/01/2014
Gr 1–4—There is a hint that this beautiful book will not resonate with its intended elementary-aged audience when its first page is headed "epigraph." Indeed, the stated themes of "finding, keeping and letting go" are hardly concerns for children, for whom every day is a new adventure and whose cognitive ability for reflective thought is a few years away. Rosen writes poetically about a young woodland grouse whose late migration is weighted down by the flower seeds she has packed into a little messenger bag—her attempt to capture the past. She falls into a river, is saved by a dog, and lives through the winter with him and his owner, never enjoying the beauty of that season because she is in such a melancholy funk about the end of summer. When spring arrives and the time comes to join her grouse companions, she trades one regret for another: What about her new friends? Danowski is an "analogy archivist" interested in the way drawings can spur human memory, and on her website, she describes their analog structure as accessible in any order. This book is unique in that the pictures were drawn first and Rosen's story was written as a response to the images. Danowski's pencil, ink, watercolor, and digitized full-page illustrations create a gorgeous, romantic woodland world, filled with the recognizable details and detritus of a life lived within it. Though lovely to look at, it's an additional purchase.—Lisa Lehmuller, East Providence School District, RI

School Library Journal

2014-07-16
Graceful writing and rich, mixed-media illustrations deliver a poignant story of longing, belonging and recognizing the gifts of the present. A young rose-cheeked grouse is reluctant to migrate to warmer climates for the winter. Despite others' warnings that she should come with them, she delays and fashions a bag in which to store seeds and her favorite red Forever Flower blossoms. Alas, the bag weighs her down, and she falls into icy waters. Luckily a spaniel playing fetch swims by, and she clings to it and is saved. The spaniel belongs to a young woman, and the grouse ends up in their home, where the woman plants the Forever Flower seeds. When seedlings sprout, they give the grouse hope that her grouse friends will return, and she longs for them and the coming springtime. At the story's heart is the message that although we might wish for things to come or long for things that have passed, there are delights to be found in the present—like parties attended by snowmen, a picnic on an unseasonably warm day or the snuggly warmth of a dog. When the other grouse do return, along with the first Forever Flowers of the season, the young grouse is torn—should she remain with her new friends or leave with those who've returned? A lyrical, lovely tale. (Picture book. 4-8)

Kirkus Reviews