The Language of Flowers | CM: Canadian Review of Materials

Volume XXVIII / Issue 39 - June 10 / 2022

The Language of Flowers

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The Language of Flowers

Author:

Dena Seiferling

Toronto, ON: Tundra Books, 2022

56 pp., hardcover, $24.99

ISBN:

9780735270541

Grades:

Preschool-grade 3

Ages:

Ages 4-8

Review by:

Aileen Wortley

Excerpt:

As the sun came up, Beatrice was on her way. She flew farther than she had ever flown before, past the peonies, past the columbines and begonias, past the spider flowers and wolfsbane that bordered the edge of the meadow… to where the ground was damp and spongy. An oddly sweet scent wafted from close by.

Beatrice knew she had flown too far. But she must find the other bees.

So she followed the scent down, down, down, deep inside the swamp until she found ... strange plants looming, in the shadows, with wide, hungry mouths and terrible teeth. One snapped at her! At that moment, Beatrice almost flew away, back to the safety of the meadow. But then she thought of her flowers and the sweet messages she delivered between them. And an idea began to buzz from deep within her little bee brain.

“Maybe,” thought Beatrice, “no one here has ever received a kind word.” For these plants were far from a friendly face.

A few flowers bloom in a meadow near a sinister swamp replete with ill-natured plants. When a young bumblebee needs a safe, nurturing place to grow, the meadow plants adopt her. They name her Beatrice and teach her the language of flowers. With this knowledge, she provides meaningful messages as she visits each plant. They return her kindness by flourishing and multiplying. Now, with so many flowers to care for, Beatrice must search for more bees to help her. In doing so, she crosses the dangerous swamp she has been warned against but realizes these plants, too, need positive messages.

This quiet, picture-book, written simply in four short ‘chapters,’ carries a message about the power of kindness. It is intended as a fanciful work of imagination based on the Victorian art of floriography or the language of flowers wherein each flower represents an emotion. While the story is well intentioned, the telling of it is rather sentimental and lacks tension.

Young readers will learn of a special relationship between bees and flowers, but the complexity and reality of pollination are ignored. Neither is there any explanatory information regarding the habits of bees to provide further insights.

Sources used are included, and an end-chart depicts each flower with its associated meaning as interpreted by the author (daffodil-hope, rose-gratitude, etcetera) In a nice touch, readers are invited to become involved by identifying these flowers in the story. This would have been a further opportunity to provide clarity regarding the history and cultural variations within floriography, an interesting but rarefied topic for children to grasp.

The graphite illustrations are well executed, representing the personality of each flower and a winsome Beatrice. Many illustrations are double-page spreads, and a dramatic gatefold is included. However, the muted colors are somber and never evolve to radiance as Beatrice works her transformation.

Children aged 4-8 years might enjoy The Language of Flowers or the obvious storyline, but it could have offered so much more.

Recommended

Reviewer:

Aileen Wortley is a retired Children’s Librarian from Toronto, Ontario.

Subject Headings:

Flowers-Juvenile literature

Flowers-Symbolic aspects-Juvenile literature