Flow, Spin, Grow: Looking for Patterns in Nature

This picture book promises to “take readers on a thought-provoking tour of the natural world, inspiring them to observe and question”. It employs each word of the introductory rhyme (see excerpt) to focus reader attention on patterns in nature, first by describing tree branches and roots, river branches and blood vessels. The second set of concepts discusses spinning planets, galaxies and spirals. The book then invites the reader to ‘explore’ to find out why patterns appear repeatedly, and to find more patterns. The “Author’s Note” at the end broadens that invitation with additional philosophical questions and statements about what makes patterns interesting.

The minimal text in Flow, Spin, Grow: Looking for Patterns in Nature moves the reader quickly through each example to show connections: tree trunks split into limbs, then branches to seek sun just as roots fork and spread to find water and food. These images are compared to trickles and streams coming together to form a river, and vessels that carry the flow of blood and oxygen in the body. To this point, the book has offered specific images to explain one definition of ‘pattern’, i.e. a set of shapes repeated regularly.

Another definition of ‘pattern’ concerns actions that show how things happen. The concept, spinning, is presented with the information that everything solid is made of tiny spinning particles, and with more sophisticated references to movement of Earth circling the Sun which whirls in the galaxy, and how such motion creates more spinning. This leads to spirals, a topic that springs from the statement that “trees and galaxies share….spirals”, with pine cones and galactic halos listed with pigs’ tails, swirling eddies and our ears. There is no further description of spirals beyond the general statement that they show how things grow or shrink, and so the reader is left to ponder how and why. Intangibles such as “particles so small you can’t even see them….like photons, protons….” are more suited to older kids who might understand those scientific terms. The mission of the book includes ‘observing and questioning’, but offering only cursory guidance may make this book frustrating for younger readers.

The pastel colors of the silk screen printed and digital media illustrations allow calm reflection of the images. Some are more animated, like the opening double spread of children playing and observing. Others, like the rendition of Earth in space and the depiction of breathing (branching), have little content and are static. Much is left to the reader’s imagination. Again, this might work for older readers but less so for those with fewer life experiences and less knowledge of vocabulary. Instructions, such as “Try to find out more” and “Keep Looking”, may offer impetus to more creative readers who are easily motivated to investigate ideas further. As the author points out, people have asked such questions forever with answers left to individual interpretation. Likewise, this book is open-ended.

The inconsistency of comprehension level, many generalizations and such simple illustrations make it hard to discern the intended audience or may limit the readership. Consider Flow, Spin, Grow a starting point, perhaps enough to arouse curiosity about patterns.