The Weedflower

Written by Elizabeth Davaze
Illustrated by Marianne Ferrer
Owlkids Books
978-1771475884
32 pp.
Ages 4-8
August 2024

In a busy schoolyard, with children jumping and climbing, sliding and clapping, one child sees a plant with a yellow flower growing in the crack between the cement and rubber turf. Only Sam sees it and watches it and sings to it and admires it.

From The Weedflower, written by Elizabeth Davaze, illustrated by Marianne Ferrer

But, as with most living things, the "alien bud" grows. It grows into a tall, bright yellow flower and then it catches the attention of the other children who join Sam to admire the flower. (Or is it a weed?) Not only do they admire it, but they also protect it and nurture it. They stop balls from hitting it and squirrels from nibbling at it. And the flower thrives. "Before long, the entire blossom had changed into one perfect, dreamy fluffball."

From The Weedflower, written by Elizabeth Davaze, illustrated by Marianne Ferrer

But when the adults at the school finally notice the "fluffball flower," they do not appreciate it the way that the children do.

    "They did not see the magic."

From The Weedflower, written by Elizabeth Davaze, illustrated by Marianne Ferrer

After much tugging by many adults, including the large principal, "the weedflower’s roots broke free, the stem came loose, and all the fluff floated away with all the students’ wishes in the breeze." It is only with time that Sam and the other children will see the weedflower has not gone because that fluff was actually filled with the promise of new life.

From The Weedflower, written by Elizabeth Davaze, illustrated by Marianne Ferrer

 Adults may see a plant that is growing where they don't want it whether it be a dandelion in a lawn, or volunteer trees that grow to close to a house's foundation. But children don't see that. Ralph Waldo Emerson, who had much to say about nature, is quoted as saying, "A weed is simply a plant whose virtues we haven't yet discovered” and many children have no problem finding the virtues in the dandelion. They bring home bouquets for their mothers, and blow the dandelion fluff and watch it travel like fairies on wind currents. They delight in their spread on lawns to become fields of green dotted with yellow brightness. (We used to braid the stem and flowers into crowns.) To nurture any plant and have it destroyed for its inconvenience to another would be devastating. Kincardine author Elizabeth Davaze takes the perspective of children seeing the dandelion as a flower, a thing of beauty and wonder, and makes us realize the loss they feel when the weed, according to the adults, is eradicated. It's all about perspective, isn't it? Too bad the adults aren't enlightened enough to realize that the dandelion would not be stopped by pulling one out.

 

Montreal's Marianne Ferrer, whose illustrations I have long admired (e.g., Carmen and the House That Gaudí Built, Racines, and Le Jardin Invisible), knows where to put the emphasis on her illustrations. Green and gold, the dandelion's only colours, along with the brown of the dirt, are the basis of all Marianne Ferrer's artwork in The Weedflower, regardless of whether she's drawing the dandelion or the children. The attention is on the plant, just as the children want it to be. Moreover, her use of watercolour and gouache give The Weedflower its organic texture, prioritizing the natural world. 

 

I know some teachers will use The Weedflower as an introductory story to teach the life cycle of a plant–too many kids don't know that seeds come from flowers–but I think it's a wonderful exploration of perspective and seeing things through a child's eyes to appreciate all living things as extraordinary, even the seemingly lowly dandelion.

My Deal with the Universe

Written by Deborah Kerbel

Scholastic Canada

978-1-4431-5756-8

240 pp.

Ages 8-12

June 2018

The uplifting cover of My Deal with the Universe hides the anxieties with which twelve-year-old Daisy is overwhelmed but thankfully it does tip us off to a resolution that is lightness and sparkle.

School is ending for the year and, though Daisy enjoys days with her best friend Willow playing at their Junglecamp, scheduled days of activities, too soon Willow would be off to summer camp for seven weeks. Sadly, there are no other friends, as Daisy, often called "Weed" lives in a house overgrown with vines and a yard dense with vegetation–called the Jungle–which is a source of ridicule and even contempt by schoolmates and neighbours. Mr. and Mrs. Pitt, next door, are especially horrid, always filing complaints against Daisy's parents and spraying Daisy with water "accidentally." Though the Jungle may be a source of embarrassment, Daisy loves her home, especially the quiet and darkness that comes with vine-covered walls and windows.

But Daisy's greatest concern is for her twin, Jack, who'd been diagnosed with cancer just before they turned eight. At the time, she'd made a deal with the universe: her life for Jack's. Coincidentally, as Jack went through treatment and started getting better, Daisy stopped growing. Apparently her deal worked. But now her parents are taking Jack, who is in remission, for doctors' appointments and tests, and Daisy comes up with a new plan to save him.

Then the Pitts' great niece and nephew, Violet and Zack, come to stay and befriend Daisy and Jack. This new friendship could change everything but would it help or hurt?

As in her most recent middle-grade novel Feathered (Kids Can Press, 2016), Deborah Kerbel makes us realize that young people, when faced with difficulties, find the means to mitigate those concerns through action. They may do so by unconventional means but making deals with the universe is probably less offbeat for children and those who are desperate than some medical treatments purported to benefit those who are ill. It would seem that Daisy is far more normal than she suspects: she's embarrassed by her parents but loves them; she's angry when she feels ignored by her friend; she doesn't want her twin to die; and she wants to be liked. But Deborah Kerbel makes it clear that normal is different for everyone and it can change with circumstances and these are lessons that Daisy ultimately learns. But she learns more than that. Daisy also accepts that some answers to life's problems can be a lot closer than anticipated and even a child can help make things right.

And how sometimes life's not all that different from a crossword puzzle.  How there's usually a solution lurking behind the blank spaces. You just have to keep trying different things to find that one that fits. (pg. 231)

Charlie's Dirt Day

by Andrew Larsen

Illustrated by Jacqueline Hudon-Verrelli

Fitzhenry & Whiteside

978-1-55455-334-1

32 pp.

Ages 4+

January, 2015

Charlie's Dirt Day may sound like another story of messy play, but it's actually one for the onset of spring and the coming of Earth Day and could be so useful in teaching the value of composting and joys of gardening to little ones!

Charlie may think the "nannies and grannies and moms and dads and boys and girls and cats and dogs and wagons and wheelbarrows and buckets and bowls and babies" are the start of a parade but, when his dad–who bears an uncanny resemblance to author Andrew Larsen–and Charlie follow, the procession leads them to a big pile of dirt, resting in the middle of the park beneath a banner announcing "Dirt Day!"  Not just dirt, as a man in green overalls corrects, but "the richest, dirtiest dirt you'll ever see."

Though Mr. Martino has plans for the compost, including sharing it with Mrs. Lee and Mr. Patel, Charlie has no garden and is disappointed that he won't be able to share in this experience.  But Andrew Larsen allows Charlie, and all readers, to learn about growing cherry tomatoes from seed and the satisfaction of coming together to do something good for Mother Earth and enjoying the fruits of one's labour (pun fully intended!) as a community. The pleasure in the faces of Jacqueline Hudon-Verrelli's characters, especially that of young Charlie as he cradles his first potted seed, is wide and encompassing and joyous.  Bravo and yum too!

The activities and information included in Charlie's Dirt Day, as always appended to the story in Fitzhenry & Whiteside's Tell Me More Storybook series, includes differentiation between dirt, soil and compost; how nature composts; growing cherry tomatoes from seed; and making compost in a cup, a perfect hands-on activity for children.

Here's my only question:  where's the recipe for Martino's Marvellous Spaghetti Sauce?!  Tell me more!