Sometimes the world can seem a gloomy, grey place. But all it takes is a little seed of hope, and happiness can begin to grow all around us. This is the message from John Light's new book, The Flower, captured perfectly with illustrations by Lisa Evans. Despite its sophisticated undertones, this beautiful, dream-like picture book tells a simple story that children will easily relate to. Child Education The illustrations in this minimal-text picture book are very much in the Tim Turner tradition - muted pastel shades of brown and grey, vacant looking expressions on wide, round faces. A distinctly dystopian eeriness fills its hauntingly mesmerising pages. 'Brigg lived in a small room in a big city.' begins the story - and so we follow the resigned drudgery of of Brigg's soulless, colourless urban life. One day he steals a forbidden books from the library where he works and learns about flowers - something he has never seen in the barren metropolis he calls home. Then, seeing the same shapes and colours in a packet of seeds in a shop window, he transforms his dreary accommodation by growing a beautiful plant. But Brigg's delight turns to anguish when the plant is sucked away by the automatic cleaning system in his apartment. All is not lost however, as the plant continues to thrive in a dust heap outside the city, and hope for a more colourful future is restored. A simple story with a strong message against apathy, reinforcing the notion that it only takes one person to make a difference. -- Rowan Stanfield Carousel There is a touchingly indelible beauty about this most remarkable book. With a seemingly simple text, John Light tells the story of a young boy who works in a bleak city's gloomy library whose dark cellar houses banned books. He sneaks one out to read at home in secret, and is enchanted by the picture of a flower, a rare treat in a flowerless world, a world which he now sets about seeking to change. Lisa Evans' illustrations have a unique quality which captures brilliantly the poignancy , the bleakness and the final floral optimism of the text. Aimed at young children, this magical book will have appeal well, well beyond the early years. -- Trevor Dickinson School Librarian Journal
