Shortlisted for the CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal 2016
Words would be completely superfluous to this beautiful and poignant picture book. A little girl in a red coat walks though the city hand and hand with her father. As he shops, chats to friends and navigates the route home, her eye is caught by flowers, flashes of colour amongst streets and scenes generally depicted in monotone.
She collects a bouquet, then presents her flowers to people and creatures they pass – a sleeping man, a mother and her children, a dog and a dead sparrow are all given a flower, until she has just one left. Rich in visual detail, this will open readers’ eyes to the beauty of the world we take for granted, to the delight children find in small things, and to the love between child and parent.
In this wordless, beautifully illustrated picture book from award-winning poet JonArno Lawson, a little girl collects wild flowers while her distracted father pays her - and their surroundings - little attention. Each flower the little girl gathers becomes a gift for a person or animal, and whether the gift is noticed or ignored, both giver and recipient are transformed by their encounter. An ode to the importance of small things, small people and small gestures, Footpath Flowers is a quiet but powerful testament to the joy that children can find in ordinary things and the mutual value of giving.
JonArno Lawson is a Canadian award-winning poet and writer who has published several works of verse. His collections for children include Black Stars in a White Night Sky and The Man in the Moon Fixer's Mask, and for adults, Inklings and Love is an Observant Traveller. He lives in Toronto with his wife and three children. Find him on Twitter as @JonArNoMore.
