About - 'The Frightened Little Flower Bud'

I'm still waiting for a publisher for this book, but if they keep rejecting it, I shall publish it myself before the end of the year.

From an educational point of view, this book shows the life cycle of a goat’s-beard plant from seed to seed again. The illustrations were created using images of the real plant in order to keep them true to life. Our story begins with a seed landing in a pretty garden. As it grows, it becomes afraid of things it ‘heard on the wind’ (gossip etc.) and consequently becomes afraid of the sun that might scorch its petals, the rain that would spoil them, the wind that might blow them away, bees that might sting and ultimately its death - our flower does not want to bloom. She also becomes afraid that she will not be as beautiful or strong as the other flowers in the garden. However, one day the flower must bloom and discovers that the fears she had have no substance as we introduce them one at a time. She discovers that she is beautiful and unique, the sun is warm and soothing, the rain is refreshing and cleansing, the bees tickle her face and the wind flutters between her petals - she is no longer afraid. The story ends with a new seed blowing away from a spectacular seed head and landing in a new garden, where the cycle begins again.

From a self-help point of view, this book aims to teach children (of all ages) that fear is just that; it holds us back from living life to our full potential, and shows that the more we think about our fears, the more they overwhelm us (shown in thought bubbles). The goat’s-beard plant produces a seed head rather like that of a dandelion, but larger - through this process we touch on the subject of death as the flower becomes that seed head and blows away before becoming a flower again. This is particularly useful for children who have lost one of their parents or a sibling.

From a fun and observational skills point of view we have included a ‘did you see’ page at the back of the book with strategically placed images of random things that children may not have noticed whilst reading it. The skill level required is ‘easy’. There is also a page where simple questions can be asked of children encouraging them to think over the book further - questions like, What did you learn from this book? What did you already know?

Much love <3

Renée