Idle, Molly. Flora and the Flamingo. San Francisco, Chronicle Books, LLC, 2013.
Flora and the Flamingo is written and illustrated by Molly Idle. It is a 2014 Caldecott Honor award winner. It tells the story of friendship between a girl and a flamingo. It is designed for children ages 3 and up, which is suitable. The print edition is reviewed.
The story begins with a tall flamingo striking a pose. A young girl enters the scene and mimics the flamingo’s poses. The flamingo turns to look at her; she turns away. The girl continues to copy the poses. The flamingo again looks at the girl. This time, she makes a face at the flamingo. They each bend over forward and see each other upside down. The flamingo makes a face at the girl, who falls down. The girl remains on the floor, despondent. The flamingo coaxes the girl off of the floor and they begin to dance and leap and laugh. The story ends with the flamingo and the girl curtsying to one another.
The story is conveyed solely through illustrations and is told over 16 spreads. The artist communicates the characters’ feelings through their facial expressions (e.g., smiling) and body position extremely well. The artist is skilled at making the story come alive via realistic illustrations in a primarily soft pink pallet.
The book includes peek a boo flaps to show the flamingo noticing the girl and the girl coyly turning her head away, which will appeal to young children. The flaps are also used to show the flamingo and girl moving from pliés to tippy toes. Imagery is also used to convey movement. For example, in the beginning of the story, there is a flower on the floor on the left side of the spread. The flower appears further to the right side of the spread as the reader progresses through the pages. In addition, the artist includes trees flowering with pink blossoms at the top of each spread; changes in the trees and blossoms show movement. The illustrator uses white space to show dance progression. The image is on the right side of the page; the left is primarily white space. A turn of the page reveals the dance sequence with images increasing in size as the reader moves from left to right. Readers are also moved through the story via the images. For example, both characters leap across the page from left to right. On the second to last spread, the book includes a large flag on each page. When opened, a larger image of the flamingo (left) and girl (right) appear as though they’re coming through the pages.
Flora and the Flamingo tells the story of friendship and the importance of kindness and encouragement. Flora and the Flamingo is a beautiful book, particularly for one on one reading. Young children will enjoy the beautiful artwork, fun story, and opening the story flaps and adults will enjoy creating the story.
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