Written and illustrated by Shawn Harris
Chosen as one of four 2022 Caldecott Honor Books, artist Shawn Harris makes his authorial debut in this vibrant picture book. Harris creates striking appeal through metaphorical tone and use of only colored pencils.
Summary
Readers follow a lively girl ready to escape the smoggy gray city for a landscape of highlighter orange, pink, yellow, green, and violet mountains and as colorful flower gardens. With the help of a first-person narrator, readers explore along with the rainbow-streaked blond girl what we can observe if we look closely at a flower and how we are similar. The question then shifts to “have you ever been a flower?”, surpassing a mere connection to nature to a more meditative or even reincarnate role.
Analysis
Harris creates a color palate that could be sold in its own box. Despite using a basic medium such as colored pencil, Have You Ever Seen a Flower stands out artistically. Aside from the hot pink motif that appears in every page, Harris conveys texture, mood and depth in every spread. Children can easily emulate Harris’s style with map pencils. Adult readers would be wise to have a cold cup of water handy as they read the book so that children can feel it reach their “stem” and “roots.” In addition to the candy-colored pages, the sparse text will also appeal to toddlers.
Translation Difficulty: Medium.
There are a few vocabulary words readers will have to look up before attempting to translate, but it is definitely doable.
Note to Parents
This is definitely a metaphorical read, but fun. I liked how the little blond girl is compared to being a dandelion and it would be fun to have children do a “self-portrait as a flower” activity after reading this book. I think what I felt a little shifty-eyed about was the reincarnation aspect of the book, given how I cannot keep a plant alive to save my life (see meme below). However, I think the book does open up the conversation to respecting and being one with nature.
Similar Reads
Coincidentally, I checked out another book with the same hot-pink motif and being one with nature as Have you Ever Seen a Flower.
The Tree in Me
Written and illustrated by Corinna Luyken
Luyken’s narrative mirrors the namaste expression of recognizing the divine in other people: “because there is a tree… in me, I can see that there is also a tree in you.” It is left up to the readers to interpret what the roasted-almond-skin-toned little girl means when she says there is a tree in her. Is it her culture? Her ethnicity? Or her connection to nature? It could be alll three! The illustrations in this book, featuring black and pink on every page, are soft, transcendental, and joyful. The book carries optimism in its warm color tones, smiling subjects, and tone. My toddler loved it and requested to read it repeatedly. Translation difficulty: easy. With sparse text it is easy to translate on the spot without losing much of its voice.
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Biblioterika 