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Alison's Zinnia: An Unusual Alphabet Book About Flowers, Girls' Names, and Verbs for Kids
"An unusual alphabet book incorporates reinforcement of individual letters into a dazzling display of floral painting as Lobel links girls' names, flowers, and verbs in a chain of floral gifts."--Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books.
32 pages, Paperback
First published April 25, 1996
About the author
Anita Lobel
88 books30 followersAnita Lobel is an illustrator of children's books. Her memoir that depicts her childhood of flight and imprisonment in Nazi-occupied Poland, ''No Pretty Pictures'' was a finalist for the National Book Award.
She has also received the Caldecott Honor Medal.
She has also received the Caldecott Honor Medal.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews
April 10, 2008
A classic in the Alphabet book genre, Alison's Zinnia features beautiful illustrations of flowers in alphabetic sequence each of which are given to, and received by, characters whose names are also in alphabetic sequence. The reader and those read-to will have fun following the letters of the alphabet from flower to giver, A to Z and back again.
CIP Summary
"Alison acquired an amaryllis for Beryl who bought a begonia for Crystal--and so on through the alphabet, as full page illustrations are presented of each flower."
From Publishers Weekly
Flowers and the girls who give and receive them ("Beryl bought a Begonia for Crystal") take readers through an alphabet brought to full bloom by lushly colored illustrations. Ages 3-up.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From School Library Journal
"Alison acquired an Amaryllis for Beryl" begins this luscious-looking alphabet book. Linking together a girl's name, a verb, and a flower, the brief text takes readers through 26 varieties and when "Zena zeroed in on a Zinnia for Alison," the chain comes full circle. A generous layout allows the painterly and botanically accurate illustrations to take center stage while a strip at the bottom quarter acts as a storyboard depicting each child's choice of flower. The full-color gouache and watercolor portraits offer a brilliant display of both the familiar, such as the daffodil, and the unfamiliar, like the Urtica. The composition is delightfully varied--one rose stands regally alone while dozens of delicate Quaker-ladies share an entire spread, and the use of color and texture exhibits a masterful touch. One can almost smell the fragrant Sweet william. Some noun and verb combinations seem forced, but most exhibit an inventive use of language that could offer inspiration for further wordplay. An elegant book that might best be enjoyed along with an adult who also appreciates the gift of flowers. --Caroline Ward, Nassau Library System, Uniondale, NY
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information.
CIP Summary
"Alison acquired an amaryllis for Beryl who bought a begonia for Crystal--and so on through the alphabet, as full page illustrations are presented of each flower."
From Publishers Weekly
Flowers and the girls who give and receive them ("Beryl bought a Begonia for Crystal") take readers through an alphabet brought to full bloom by lushly colored illustrations. Ages 3-up.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From School Library Journal
"Alison acquired an Amaryllis for Beryl" begins this luscious-looking alphabet book. Linking together a girl's name, a verb, and a flower, the brief text takes readers through 26 varieties and when "Zena zeroed in on a Zinnia for Alison," the chain comes full circle. A generous layout allows the painterly and botanically accurate illustrations to take center stage while a strip at the bottom quarter acts as a storyboard depicting each child's choice of flower. The full-color gouache and watercolor portraits offer a brilliant display of both the familiar, such as the daffodil, and the unfamiliar, like the Urtica. The composition is delightfully varied--one rose stands regally alone while dozens of delicate Quaker-ladies share an entire spread, and the use of color and texture exhibits a masterful touch. One can almost smell the fragrant Sweet william. Some noun and verb combinations seem forced, but most exhibit an inventive use of language that could offer inspiration for further wordplay. An elegant book that might best be enjoyed along with an adult who also appreciates the gift of flowers. --Caroline Ward, Nassau Library System, Uniondale, NY
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information.
April 18, 2012
Just beautiful! I love the illustrations, they are so bold yet so sweet. The collection of flowers is marvelous, I so appreciate that Lobel went beyond the "typical" flowers and included some that we don't hear of everyday. The text is engaging and flows so nicely from one girl and flower to the next. "Alison acquired an Amaryllis for Beryl. Beryl bought a Begonia for Crystal . . ". and so on until things come full circle and even sweet Alison who started it all gets a Zinnia from Zena. gardeners
October 7, 2017
1. Awards received: This book has not received any awards.
2. Appropriate grade level(s): This book is appropriate for preschool to grade 3.
3. Summary: The story goes in alphabetical order, with each page containing its own letter from A-Z. The storyline of the book is based on a girl, in some manner, using/acquiring a species of flower to give to another girl. The name of the girl using/acquiring the flower, the verb that follows her name, and the name of the flower all begin with the presented letter on the page. The name of the girl receiving the flower begins with the following presented letter. In example, “Alison acquired an Amaryllis for Beryl.” The next letter would be ‘B’ and the person, the verb, and flower would begin with ‘B’ as well. This continues all the way to ‘Z’ until, “Zena zeroed in on a Zinnia for Alison.” Then the story loops back around to the beginning of the alphabet with Alison.
4. I love the illustrations of the floral pictures beautifully crafted by the author. There were also smaller illustrations that displayed what the girl representing the presented letter was doing, andI enjoyed those as well. I found it interesting to learn the different names of flowers that begin with all the letters of the alphabet—some of which I had never heard of. I thought it was very creative how the name of the girl, the verb, and the flower name all began with the letter being focused on. I also liked how each letter page translated into the next page with the help of the flowers being for the next girl. Overall, I enjoyed the book, and I was excited to see in what ways the next letter was going to be presented in terms of the girl’s name, the verb, and the name of the flower.
5. Uses in the classroom:
-Discuss/learn about different types of flowers
-Talk about the alliteration used with the girl’s name, the verb, and the flower’s name
-Teach about the alphabet
2. Appropriate grade level(s): This book is appropriate for preschool to grade 3.
3. Summary: The story goes in alphabetical order, with each page containing its own letter from A-Z. The storyline of the book is based on a girl, in some manner, using/acquiring a species of flower to give to another girl. The name of the girl using/acquiring the flower, the verb that follows her name, and the name of the flower all begin with the presented letter on the page. The name of the girl receiving the flower begins with the following presented letter. In example, “Alison acquired an Amaryllis for Beryl.” The next letter would be ‘B’ and the person, the verb, and flower would begin with ‘B’ as well. This continues all the way to ‘Z’ until, “Zena zeroed in on a Zinnia for Alison.” Then the story loops back around to the beginning of the alphabet with Alison.
4. I love the illustrations of the floral pictures beautifully crafted by the author. There were also smaller illustrations that displayed what the girl representing the presented letter was doing, andI enjoyed those as well. I found it interesting to learn the different names of flowers that begin with all the letters of the alphabet—some of which I had never heard of. I thought it was very creative how the name of the girl, the verb, and the flower name all began with the letter being focused on. I also liked how each letter page translated into the next page with the help of the flowers being for the next girl. Overall, I enjoyed the book, and I was excited to see in what ways the next letter was going to be presented in terms of the girl’s name, the verb, and the name of the flower.
5. Uses in the classroom:
-Discuss/learn about different types of flowers
-Talk about the alliteration used with the girl’s name, the verb, and the flower’s name
-Teach about the alphabet
May 12, 2023
In this ambitious picture book, Anita Loebel links together:
* Girls' names
* flowers
* and verbs
* plus that not inconsequential matter of teaching the entire alphabet.
FIVE STARS for delivering the ambitious tasks assigned.
Personally, I think this book is overstuffed with info for children of picture book age.
For example, what's this "chaining" business?
"Tina tended a Tulip for Ursula" -- Yep, that's supposed to be chaining. As if children learning about flowers and girls' names and letters of the alphabet also need, urgently, to start thinking about the next letter of the alphabet.
I DON'T THINK SO.
Do any of you Goodreaders agree with me? Like, there's no need to rush learning for young children???
Clever for grownups. TMI for children.
* Girls' names
* flowers
* and verbs
* plus that not inconsequential matter of teaching the entire alphabet.
FIVE STARS for delivering the ambitious tasks assigned.
Personally, I think this book is overstuffed with info for children of picture book age.
For example, what's this "chaining" business?
"Tina tended a Tulip for Ursula" -- Yep, that's supposed to be chaining. As if children learning about flowers and girls' names and letters of the alphabet also need, urgently, to start thinking about the next letter of the alphabet.
I DON'T THINK SO.
Do any of you Goodreaders agree with me? Like, there's no need to rush learning for young children???
Clever for grownups. TMI for children.
July 26, 2019
Twenty-six flowers on twenty-six pages going from A to Z. Each page features a large artistic picture of the flower suitable for hanging on the wall. There is one sentence per page in the same format on every page. A person, a verb, a flower using that letter of the alphabet and then another person at the end with the next letter of the alphabet -- Alison acquired an Amaryllis for Beryl. Underneath the sentence is an illustration showing the action of the sentence. The cover picture shows all 26 flowers in one vase.
This has become a classic title in children's literature. The oversized format of the book shows the beauty of the flowers but makes it hard to hold. This is a good title, but my favorite by Anita Lobel is ON MARKET STREET.
This has become a classic title in children's literature. The oversized format of the book shows the beauty of the flowers but makes it hard to hold. This is a good title, but my favorite by Anita Lobel is ON MARKET STREET.
May 21, 2023
Alison's Zinnia by Anita Lobel.
This is such a sweet book, perfect for the spring season!
(It's also super helpful when I'm playing Scattergories and the category is flowers 😆)
It has a wonderful ABC kind of theme. For example, the first few lines are "Alison acquired an Amaryllis for Beryl. Beryl bought a Begonia for Crystal. Crystal cut a Chrysanthemum for Dawn."
The illustrations are amazing and each flower is drawn beautifully!
Follow @bronteandwilder on Instagram for more fun book recs!
This is such a sweet book, perfect for the spring season!
(It's also super helpful when I'm playing Scattergories and the category is flowers 😆)
It has a wonderful ABC kind of theme. For example, the first few lines are "Alison acquired an Amaryllis for Beryl. Beryl bought a Begonia for Crystal. Crystal cut a Chrysanthemum for Dawn."
The illustrations are amazing and each flower is drawn beautifully!
Follow @bronteandwilder on Instagram for more fun book recs!
April 22, 2022
Clever and beautiful. Each page has a flower,in alphabetical order, with an action and a person’s name, I.e. Beryl bought a begonia for Crystal. The last word leads you to the next page. The illustrations are beautiful and botanically accurate. An all around great learning experience.
August 18, 2018
Beautiful pictures and I like the repetition.
September 3, 2019
I think that this is a great illustrated book for kiddos who are learning their alphabet. The colors in the book are amazing and it draws people in. Hence why I picked it up.
July 12, 2020
What letter does you name start with? Can you name a flower that starts with the same letter? Beautiful illustrations with the names of children and flowers.
June 9, 2021
Beautiful book! ABC’s of flowers. The illustrations were gorg.
May 23, 2022
get that flower name vocab in!
June 23, 2022
Not really any story line or plot, but each woman named (everyone A to Z, Alison to Zena) gathers a flower for the next woman that starts with her name. The pictures are gorgeous.
June 19, 2024
The tulip illustration is my favorite.
March 16, 2011
Living close to the coast in California means year round flowers. What the flowers are changes by the season and certainly spring and summer provide the most variety and amount of flowers but there will still be roses, poppies and daisies in fall and winter.
So growing up with such variety I feel like I should be more familiar with flower varieties. My grandmother certainly was and she did try to teach me beyond the basics but somehow her encyclopedic recall for flowers and plants just didn't take with me.
Now I'm a parent and I have two children who love flowers. They are always asking me what such and such flower is and I'm hard pressed to know the answer most of the time. I'm grateful therefore for the many picture books available for us to read together.
Our most recent floral picture book, Alison's Zinnia by Anita Lobel is also an alphabet book. Better than the average alphabet book, there's a clever round-robin aspect to the story. It begins with Alison receiving a Zinnia from a friend. She in turn gives an amaryllis to her friend Beryl and so forth. Until the last friend is revealed.
Besides the fun round robin introduction to old fashioned names and beautiful flowers, Anita Lobel's illustrations are gorgeous. I would love to have a copy just as a quick pictorial reference for flowers!
So growing up with such variety I feel like I should be more familiar with flower varieties. My grandmother certainly was and she did try to teach me beyond the basics but somehow her encyclopedic recall for flowers and plants just didn't take with me.
Now I'm a parent and I have two children who love flowers. They are always asking me what such and such flower is and I'm hard pressed to know the answer most of the time. I'm grateful therefore for the many picture books available for us to read together.
Our most recent floral picture book, Alison's Zinnia by Anita Lobel is also an alphabet book. Better than the average alphabet book, there's a clever round-robin aspect to the story. It begins with Alison receiving a Zinnia from a friend. She in turn gives an amaryllis to her friend Beryl and so forth. Until the last friend is revealed.
Besides the fun round robin introduction to old fashioned names and beautiful flowers, Anita Lobel's illustrations are gorgeous. I would love to have a copy just as a quick pictorial reference for flowers!
February 3, 2010
Alison acquires an amaryllis for Beryl, and so it continues through the alphabet until Zena zeroes in on that zinnia for Alison.
The concept, I thought, was better done with Ogres! Ogres! Ogres!: A Feasting Frenzy from A to Z.
The pictures are pretty enough (the flowers more than the girls), however, I was disappointed to note that in a book of 26 little girls, exactly one of them is non-white. In 1990, I would have expected something more accurately representing the ethnic makeup of the country, more like 4 - 6 non-white children. I know, now that I've said it, that somebody is bound to show up to say that it doesn't matter. Well, if it doesn't matter then it's a little enough thing to do right. And if, as I believe, it *does* matter then it's *still* a little enough thing to do right and it matters more than you think.
At any rate, that's not why I gave the book three stars, I gave it three stars because I don't find it that interesting. This one is destined for my giveaway pile. I'll hand it over to my niece's pre-k teacher tomorrow.
The concept, I thought, was better done with Ogres! Ogres! Ogres!: A Feasting Frenzy from A to Z.
The pictures are pretty enough (the flowers more than the girls), however, I was disappointed to note that in a book of 26 little girls, exactly one of them is non-white. In 1990, I would have expected something more accurately representing the ethnic makeup of the country, more like 4 - 6 non-white children. I know, now that I've said it, that somebody is bound to show up to say that it doesn't matter. Well, if it doesn't matter then it's a little enough thing to do right. And if, as I believe, it *does* matter then it's *still* a little enough thing to do right and it matters more than you think.
At any rate, that's not why I gave the book three stars, I gave it three stars because I don't find it that interesting. This one is destined for my giveaway pile. I'll hand it over to my niece's pre-k teacher tomorrow.
December 3, 2011
I liked the premise, rhythm, and alliteration that Lobel used in this alphabet book. Young readers will get enjoy playing with the letter sounds to predict which flower/name will come next. I didn't find the illustrations remarkable, but the flowers are detailed and lovely. The smaller illustrations tell the "story" of each girl in the scene.
I was a little put-off by the lack of cultural diversity (the girls are nearly all white) and gender bias. I understand that the author's personal constraint was to stick with girl's names. But at this young age, why can't boys also be picking flowers? My son and nephew are also enamored with gardens and nature. This subtly reinforces biased gender roles/interests.
Still this book might be well-used with a collection of alphabet books, perhaps leading to students creating their own using some of the elements - a game, alliteration, a object/animal theme.
I was a little put-off by the lack of cultural diversity (the girls are nearly all white) and gender bias. I understand that the author's personal constraint was to stick with girl's names. But at this young age, why can't boys also be picking flowers? My son and nephew are also enamored with gardens and nature. This subtly reinforces biased gender roles/interests.
Still this book might be well-used with a collection of alphabet books, perhaps leading to students creating their own using some of the elements - a game, alliteration, a object/animal theme.
January 21, 2012
Each page of "Alison's Zinnia" presents a letter of the alphabet by naming flowers that begin with that particular letter. For example: A-Amaryllis, B-Begonia, C-Chrysanthemum, ect. The book also uses unique children's names to corelate with the same letter as the flower (Dawn/Daffodil or Emily/Easter Lily) and to reiterate the phonological sound.
The author, Anita Lobel, created beautiful paintings of flowers to illustrate the story. The simplistic and vibrant colors on every page could easily entice a young reader. However, the complicated vocabulary might discourage any desire to learn the alphabet. Words such as "Xanthium and Gaillardia" are difficult for anyone to pronounce, much less a small child!
Using flowers to represent the alphabet is a great idea in theory. I will agree that children need more than just "A is for Apple" "B is for Ball"...I just don't feel that this is a book representing all aspects of what an ABC story should possess.
The author, Anita Lobel, created beautiful paintings of flowers to illustrate the story. The simplistic and vibrant colors on every page could easily entice a young reader. However, the complicated vocabulary might discourage any desire to learn the alphabet. Words such as "Xanthium and Gaillardia" are difficult for anyone to pronounce, much less a small child!
Using flowers to represent the alphabet is a great idea in theory. I will agree that children need more than just "A is for Apple" "B is for Ball"...I just don't feel that this is a book representing all aspects of what an ABC story should possess.
September 11, 2012
Alison's Zinnia by Anita Lobel is an ABC book about flowers. Each letter of the alphabet is represented as a flower and a girl's name. The pictures are painted with beautifully and show the scenes of the ladies and flowers very well. Lobel's color palette is bright and colorful and she keeps the pages turning with each illustration. I really enjoyed the wide array of flowers and names chosen. With that being said, I did find some of the names hard to pronounce. Make sure you read through first before reading aloud to children, some are tricky.
July 6, 2024
In my second grade class, every student got a day when they could choose any one time to ring a little apple-shaped handbell, and then either choose a book to be read to the class by the teacher or be the one to read out loud to the class. I chose to do the reading, and this was the book I chose. I think that tells you most of what you need to know about me.
April 26, 2011
I am partial to flowers and the illustrations here are wonderful. Lobel's one page summary describing how the book originated and a personal insight about her Polish childhood add greatly to the enjoyment of the illustrations. There is a formula to this picture book--girl-verb-flower--the illustrations depict a girl and a flower for each letter of the alphabet. A remarkable visual feast.
October 7, 2014
Another good book to teach kids the alphabet. Uses great illustrations which would further engage the kids. I had no idea there were so many interesting books that could used for something such as learning the alphabet. I would definitely use at least one of these books if I was in a primary classroom.
May 21, 2010
What beautiful pictures in an alphabet book! Loved the choices of flowers in the illustrations, and the accompanying children's names were well chosen. I'm sorry I missed this book during my teaching days!
December 4, 2010
This book is about flowers and the alphabet. On every page, there are different names that go with different flowers that begin with each letter of the alphabet. This book is about community because it has people picking flowers for other people.
October 7, 2014
This alphabet book uses a lot of alliteration. This book is another good book for older elementary school students who may be struggling with aspects of the alphabet or phonics. This book could also be used in a science lesson learning about flowers.
February 23, 2008
A beautiful A to Z book with flowers. I used to read this to my niece. It was one of her favorite bedtime stories. I still love it and it has beautiful illustrations.
September 2, 2008
A beautifully illustrated flower alphabet book.
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March 11, 2009ABC: Great to teach alliteration and great verbs! Pretty pictures of flowers.
June 29, 2009
Beautiful pictures. An alphabet book that actually carries the entire alphabet (including "X"... though I've never heard of anyone named Xantippa before).
May 1, 2013
A book the mother or grandmother who buys it would enjoy but the child less so - not so fun, and alphabet not culminating, or the bok carrying a rhythm that makes you want to proceed.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews