THE BIG BOOK OF BLOOMS

THE BIG BOOK OF BLOOMS by Yuval Zommer

It is the season of blooming flowers. For as many years as I can remember, my children have wanted to be a part of putting a plant in the ground and watching it flourish. There is something mysterious and miraculous about covering a seed in the dirt and a few days later a green shoot appears. Almost as amazing as stepping into a garden is stepping into The Big Book of Blooms by author/illustrator Yuval Zommer.

Since this is a book about flowers, let's start with the illustrations. This masterpiece is full of color, and bugs, and butterflies, and animals just as you would find in an actual garden. Vines twist and turn around each other. Bees and butterflies sip sweet nectar while resting on colored petals. Hidden throughout the pages are 15 golden bulbs waiting for discovery. Loveliness and joy spill out from the pages.

The text is delightful. Every two pages is a section dedicated to a topic such as roses, pitcher plants, pollinators, etc. Every section begins with a question that fires the brain's imagination. Examples of questions are What's inside a pitcher plant, how do plants defend themselves, why are roses red and violets blue, and so on. Written with the assistance of botanical experts from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Great Britain, this book is overflowing with information for inquiring minds, young and old alike.

HEADS UP- One very small reference to millions of years.

ALONGSIDE ACTIVITIES- This book is a launch pad of possibilities where plants are concerned. Pot a plant, grow a garden, bask in blooms! Visit gardens! There are conservatories, plantations, arboretums, estates, greenhouses, grandma's garden, etc. open for tours. Check them out! Read one section of the book and hunt for real life examples in your own backyard or if it's something more exotic one of the special locations listed above. Make pictures of flowers using tissue paper. Cut a stem shape out of green tissue paper. For a darker shade of green cut 2 layers of the paper. Glue onto white cardstock. Cut petal shapes out of different colors of tissue paper and arrange them on the top of the stem and glue them down. Use flower guides for colors and shapes if needed.