Florette

By Anna Walker, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, 2018.

Nature loving Mae moves with her family from her beloved home and garden to a big crowded city. This story gives us a reflective look at the difference between city and country living. Mae is nostalgic about her former home and sad about moving to the city because of all the buildings and concrete and lack of nature, until one day she finds Florette, a forest (garden store) in the heart of the city. Mae plucks a tiny shoot from the sidewalk outside Florette, takes it home and plants it…and this is the beginning of her very own garden. Mae continues to make her part of the grey city green and beautiful, just like her old garden. Her life becomes brighter, and the new plants allow her to accept the changes that she has had to endure by moving house. This book may show your child how they too can find a creative solution to improve their own environment.

Anne Walker’s illustrations are stylised and soft, drawing the reader into the intricacies of Mae’s life and her perspective on it. There are loads of items of interest on every page to engage your young reader beyond the words. This book is absolutely delightful.

Awards

Shortlisted for Picture Book of the Year 2018 by Children’s Book Council of Australia.