This is a wordless story of a father and daughter walking home on evening through a busy city. It is laid out in a comic book fashion with most of the book in black and white ink. The little girl and flowers are colored. The little girl is very observant of the interesting people and surroundings of her city. As they walk, she stops and gathers flowers, many of which would be considered weeds by adults. After gathering a fist full of flowers, the girl discreetly begins random acts of kindness by leaving some of the flowers she has collected with others, including a dead bird and a homeless man. She has enough flowers left over to gift to her mother and brothers and still have one left for herself.
When I first started reading this book, I wasn't sure I liked it. But the more I read, the more engaged I became. I liked how observant the girl was to find the various floral treasures in the city and the variety of people they encountered. I was touched by the girl’s thoughtfulness.
I don’t think this would be a good read aloud, but it might be an interesting addition to a writing center where a group of students could work together to create a narrative for the story. I think you might want to compare the father-daughter relationships between this book and “Ask Me” by Bernard Waber that I previously reviewed. Students might be able to relate times when their parents were distracted by work and times when they had their undivided attention.
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