Review by Booklist Review
Gr. 4^-6. There's nothing about the design of this handsome book of wildflowers to indicate that it was written for children; it's the short, simple text that makes it accessible. Each spread includes a white-bordered page featuring a clear, colorful photo of the plant in the wild. The facing page offers the plant's common and botanical names, its season for blooming, and a few paragraphs of information, which might include the derivation of its name, details of the plant's fertilization, and interesting facts about the plant and its uses in food or medicine. Occasionally, a double-page spread will include two close-up photos of flowers. Although not quite avuncular, the formal yet conversational tone of the writing is reminiscent of a chatty, well-informed aunt guiding the reader through forest and meadow. --Carolyn Phelan
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 4-8-Ryden opens her book with the statement, "Everyone loves wildflowers," and then makes a case for enjoying and protecting them. Her large, incredibly sharp, full-color photos of 38 species are stunning. The text accompanying each picture is both informative and personal. Readers find out how the flower got its name, where to look for it, how it is pollinated, how it has been studied by scientists or used by people, and what meaning it has to the author. Occasional slight personification ("The Canada lily prevents this from happening by hanging its head") adds to the affectionate tone of the writing, inviting youngsters to care about these flowers. This is not a field guide. Although the entries are arranged generally by the months in which they bloom in the U.S., there are no maps; the size of the book eliminates easy portability; and the small number of flowers covered limits its use in identification. See it instead as a luxurious invitation for children to take a close look at wildflowers in their part of the country.-Ellen Heath, Orchard School, Ridgewood, NJ (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
(Intermediate) The flowers found in our everyday environments ""poking their impudent faces through cracks in sidewalks or adding gay color to sun-bleached roadsides and vacant lots""-as well as a bit further off-road in forests and meadows-serve as inspiration and material for Ryden's lyrical nature writing and exquisite photography. Musings on three dozen wildflowers are organized, in order of appearance, from February to November, with a range of bloom times given to cover several North American climate zones. Each entry in Ryden's nature journal includes such interesting tidbits as the origin of the flower names, unusual adaptive features of the plants and their role in growth and reproduction, commentary on the plants' roles in their ecosystems, and the ways in which humans have related to the flowers. These are not clinical descriptions-her text meanders appealingly through moments of wonder, experience, explanation and speculation. Almost all the entries are accompanied by at least two photographs, generally one of the entire plant and a close-up of the flower. The sharply focused photographs clearly show flower details, and the use of more than one image of each flower highlights variations in the flowers, their leaf structures, and their habitats. Throughout, readers are encouraged to engage in their own observations of wildflowers; the inclusion of the ubiquitous dandelion assures even the greenest nature observers of at least one successful identification. To pursue identification further, however, aspiring botanists will need a field guide to complement the book. What a field guide won't provide, however, is Ryden's personal touch-exemplary modeling of the practices of naturalist observation and of journal writing. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
A beautiful browsing book of wildflower photos and meandering reminiscences by the author of Wild Horses I Have Known (1999) and other books on nature. Ryden begins with skunk cabbage, one of the first plants to flower in spring, and continues with full-color photographs and brief descriptions of wildflowers encountered from March to November, ending with the familiar New England aster. The end flap indicates that she encountered many of the wildflowers in New York State, so it's to be assumed that many of these flowers are more typical of the eastern woodlands region of the East Coast, though ranges are not given. She provides a common and scientific name, as well as blooming time, and some intriguing details. For example, she notes the common blue violet reproduces three ways: pollen-bearing insects fertilize the showy flowers, a second type of less showy flower never opens but is self-fertile, and finally shoots sent up from its vast root system. Some opinions are personal, as when she voices her approval of purple loosestrife, the bane of environmentalists, "A plant so beautiful ought to be enjoyed." Sometimes she includes snippets of poetry, medicinal or Indian lore, how the plant got its name, or where it originated. Full-color photos appear one to a page, framed with wide, white borders, frequently showing dramatic close-ups of flower heads. Her introduction suggests ways for readers to observe wildflowers for themselves. While more useful for browsing than for research (there is no index), this is sure to be enjoyed by nature lovers and great for quick identification of something lovely. (bibliography) (Nonfiction. 10-12)
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
