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The Flower

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Brigg lives in a small, grey room in a large, grey city. When he finds a book in the library labelled ‘Do Not Read’, he cannot resist taking it home. In it, he comes upon pictures of bright, vibrant objects called flowers. He cannot find flowers anywhere in the city, but stumbles instead on a packet of seeds. This sets off a chain of events which bring about unexpected results, continuing to grow and bloom even after we have turned the last page. John Light’s enigmatic story is told with utter simplicity, but resonates long after we finish reading this book. His increasingly optimistic vision is hauntingly captured by Lisa Evans’s beautiful and whimsical illustrations.

32 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2006

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162 people want to read

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John Light

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5 stars
72 (38%)
4 stars
75 (39%)
3 stars
31 (16%)
2 stars
8 (4%)
1 star
2 (1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 50 reviews
Profile Image for James Benham.
47 reviews2 followers
February 5, 2018
A wonderful book with enticing illustrations that truly add to the story. Excellent message behind the text. Certainly usable to teach children about the environment, global citizenship, and community. Loved the creepy characters and settings.
23 reviews
October 23, 2019
The Flower is picture book that utilises simplistic language to address prominent themes/ subjects.
The story tells of Brigg, a librarian, who lives in a dull and dreary dystopian city where greenery and nature seems to be non-existent. One day Brigg comes across a set of books labelled 'do not read'- they were supposedly highly dangerous books. However, his curiosity is sparked and he cannot resist smuggling one of the books home with him. Upon reading the book at home in secret, he discovers flowers. Brigg is intrigued by the beautiful pictures as has never before been exposed to 'what they call' flowers. He sets off on a hunt to try and locate any trace of a flower in his city, showing a strong sense of hope. At an old junk shop he spots and purchases a 'picture' of a flower which, in reality, is actually a packet of seeds. Brigg follows the instructions and plants the flowers inside a mug filled with dust as the earth. When it seems like nothing would happen, the flower blooms and fills Brigg with joy. Regretfully, one day when Brigg was not home, the plant got sucked away and is nowhere to be seen. Brigg is distraught so sets off again trying to search for another sign of a flower somewhere in the city. The book draws to a close by him finding that his flower has died but has left behind hundreds of new green shoots among the heaps of dust.
The book uses colour symbolism in which the city's dark hues could represent a possibly polluted future where people will not be familiar with natural life. The flower portrays a symbol of hope to Brigg who has the motivation to search for something better. The language use is simple but the choices of adjectives used throughout are interesting as have a significant impact on the meaning. Motifs also appear within the pictures and add a further element of interest when looking closer into the images as a collective whole.
The eerie illustrations show the state of the future environment which exposes the problems with society and the over-urbanisation of our planet. However, the book does depict a hopeful ending through the final image. This image could usefully be studied by pupils who could make inferences on how the story continues based upon the final illustration in the book.
I thoroughly enjoyed exploring this book.
1,097 reviews20 followers
Read
December 9, 2011
I'm not quite sure when Bleak Dystopian Futures became a picture book genre, but it's here. This is actually quite a nice example of it. Brigg lives in a small room in the big city, and works in the library where dangerous books are stored. One day he finds the most dangerous book of all, the one marked do not read. This dangerous book tells Brigg about flowers, with the beautiful shapes and colours. Of course Brigg seeks out flowers in his bleak, colourless world. Gorgeous illustrations really capture the authors themes. Wonderful.
Profile Image for Rif.
279 reviews35 followers
September 30, 2017
This one had never been on my wishlist. I didn't even know it exists. I was on my way to the cashier during a book fair named Big Bad Wolf when I walked past this book and my eyes caught a glimpse of a boy who stood in front of bookshelf and covered half of his face with a book which had flower on its cover.

I didn't even think about how much money I had left. I didn't even bother to read the synopsis (like I usually do). I just bought it. This might be one of those magical moments where you got chosen by the book itself.
When Brigg discovers a book in the library labelled "Do Not Read", he cannot resist taking it home. It leads him to an unexpected discovery, which brings brightness and beauty to the inhabitants of a previously dull and dismal world.

A deceptively simple and haunting story, beautifully and mysteriously illustrated, set in a bleak future metropolis.

Have you read a story set in a futuristic dystopian city in a form of illustration? I have. I can't believe I had gotten myself a story of a young guy who worked in a library (may I call him a 'librarian' like me?) where dangerous books like Alice in Wonderland and Jack and the Bean Stalk were stored.

Could you imagine a grey city in a grey country that had no flower at all? It's so grey that a civillian was mesmerized seeing something with beautiful shape and color, called as 'flower'. It's so dull that a civillian mistook a pack of seeds as a piece of painting. It's so poignant that a civillian would let a flower got sucked by the cleaning system.

As a short read, this one affects me a lot.
Profile Image for Ibtihaj Al Harthi.
7 reviews3 followers
August 4, 2016
يحكي الكتاب قصة طفل صغير، بْرِج، وسعيه لزرع وردة صغيرة في وسط المدينة الرمادية، الكتاب مرسوم بحساسية بالغة من قبل ليزا إيفانز باستخدام خامة الفحم للأماكن الرمادية في المدينة واللون الوردي للأماكن التي لا تغص بالمباني وتمتليء بالورود الطبيعية، هذا التناقض في اللونين وأسلوب الرسم أعطى الكتاب جمالية بصرية بالغة اتحدت مع نص الكتاب الجميل أساسًا لتخرج بعمل بالغ الحساسية والجمال.
Profile Image for Louize.
485 reviews54 followers
December 20, 2010
Love the pictures, it simply compliments the equally lovely story.
Profile Image for Sofía Alejandra.
44 reviews4 followers
December 29, 2019
La historia de The Flower está ubicada en un futuro gris y hasta cierto punto agonizante; en él no se puede distinguir la noche del día, todos parecen estar tristes y cansados y no hay señales de color ni de naturaleza en ningún sitio. The Flower puede ser considerada una historia que va de ciencia ficción, el trasfondo es en principio triste y Lisa Evans ilustró de una forma excelente la obra para dar las sensaciones precisas de soledad y vacío, cuando el mundo gris empieza a mejorar, los brotes de color tienen la capacidad de dar una luz muy hermosa a las páginas.
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The Flower inicia en cierta ciudad sombría, donde vive Brigg, un muchacho que trabaja en una librería. Cierto día, en una repisa alta en la bodega, encuentra algunos libros marcados con la leyenda "Do not read" (No leer) y movido por la curiosidad Brigg se lleva un ejemplar a casa.
Aquel libro contiene imágenes preciosas de flores, figuras que Brigg jamás había visto y es así como Brigg comienza la búsqueda a lo largo de la ciudad para hallar una flor, hasta que a través de una ventana de una tienda de chatarra ve un paquete con la imagen de una flor, Brigg lo adquiere para encontrar en su interior no la flor, sino semillas; las instrucciones marcan que se deben cubrir con tierra y añadir agua.
Brigg deberá recorrer de nuevo toda la ciudad para poder recolectar un poco de polvo para sus semillas y así poder ver nacer su flor, la primera que el mundo ha visto en mucho tiempo.
Estamos ante un futuro tan desolador que no sorprende el hecho de que Brigg tenga que recorrer la ciudad entera para encontrar suficiente tierra para llenar una taza.
Otra imagen inquietante es al extremo de la ciudad donde sólo hay colinas de polvo que se acumulan; en el cielo se ve una esfera de luz que tomamos por la Luna pero también puede ser tomada por el Sol oculto tras una capa densa de polución.
En este mundo lo más parecido a la felicidad es la librería, único sitio donde hay personas sonriendo.
Este álbum tiene una cantidad mínima de texto, imágenes que cubren la página entera. La historia posee una gran sensibilidad e ilustraciones hechizantes y mágicas, misteriosas y sombrías.
A pesar de la carga de texto requiere orientación para los lectores menores de 6 o 7 años de edad, para que a través de la organización de actividades, preguntas o juegos, puedan hallar sentido a las imágenes grises del libro que pueden no llamar la atención de ellos a primera vista. En cuanto a lectores de 7 a 99 años es un libro ideal para leer, releer y explorar en las imágenes, ideal también para regalar y darnos cuenta lo afortunados que somos de poder ver flores y verdor por doquier, tener luz solar y distinguirla felizmente de la lunar.
Entrada completa: https://laletracomoalimento.blogspot....
Profile Image for Audrey Hackett.
9 reviews
September 6, 2018
This is a lovely picture book about a boy living in a dreary dystopian city. He reads a forbidden book about flowers. After searching the whole dismal city for pictures of flowers he buys one old pack of seeds. Unfortunately the auto room cleaning system sucks up all his blooms. His search for another picture of flowers takes him to the huge dust heaps outside the city where he discovers his dead flowers have taken up root and are flourishing.

The illustrations are beautiful, utilizing shades of grey with spots of color.

The main character, Brigg, seems to live alone and has a job in a library. This is not really explained but one can assume this is the norm for some children in the futuristic dystopian setting. He is a dear sensitive boy and it is heartwarming to see his joy in the flowers.

Parents that want to promote appreciation for nature and concern for the environment to their children might like this book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Christie Kaaland.
1,403 reviews12 followers
January 5, 2025
This is a timely picturebook for the current age of book banning. Brigg is a librarian who lives in a future stark flowerless world and works in a library "where dangerous books are stored". One day in his library work he finds a shelf of books marked "Do not read." so he takes a book, reads it in secret, and reveals a world of beauty and nature: both lacking in his current life. Brigg searches for flowers and finds a picture of a flower and on the back are seeds to plant. Brigg plants the seeds, they grow, and soon he finds the seeds grow and blossom into beautiful flowers. After a disappointing 'big brother' moment in which his apartment's cleaning system sucks his flowers away, Briggs goes in search of his flowers. This dystopian picturebook ends in hope and readers will find much to discuss.
Profile Image for Fiona Hill.
84 reviews3 followers
December 10, 2017
The illustrations really bring this book to life. Everything in Briggs city is grey and dull, apart from him. In the illustrations, Brigg is the only object to be shown in colour. I would definitely talk about the contrast of colours with children in art, and the power they have on focusing our attention to certain aspects. Brigg is missing colour and beauty in his urbanised city. He discovers a book full of colourful flowers and realises nature and colour are missing from this dark city. I think this a really important message for children, who tend to spend too much time sat inside on their phones rather than exploring the natural beauty of the world around them. Cross-curricular link to the life-cycle of a flower and what they need to grow.
1 review
October 27, 2019
When I worked at a book fair called Big Bad Wolf, I found this book while compiling stock of books. Brigg worked in the library, where dangerous books were stored. This sentence became the reason for me to buy this book and read it several time. This is a good book to teach children, even an adult about our society and environment. It teach children about the lonely side of an adult. It remind adults the small curiosity when they was a kid. Brigg curiosity about non existing flower in this dystopian era brought tears rolling down to my face. How Brigg sat and looked at the flowers until it was too dark to see, remind me to enjoy that little happiness. Sometimes we forgot the small things that make us happy and we need to find it.
Profile Image for Chloe.
120 reviews
October 26, 2019
Loved this book and the dark illustrations. It could be used throughout KS1 however I have seen it in practice during a week of Reception lessons, activities included: pupils planting their own seed, using story language to describe how to look after a seed and coming up with descriptive language to describe how they thought the character felt at different times.
79 reviews2 followers
November 9, 2020
This book is filled with amazing and really interesting pictures to explore. The story shows a boy who lives in a large grey city that has no flowers or plants. One day the boy discovers a forbidden book with flower seeds in. As the boy grows his flower plant he wonders how long it would take to fill a whole city with flowers...?
Profile Image for Jess.
12 reviews2 followers
September 24, 2017
A slightly dark and eery book with illustrations to portray this feeling. Great use of colour to show the bleak dark city with a messy charcoal style in comparison to the delicate pastel colours of everything else.
Profile Image for Nicole.
2,877 reviews10 followers
November 7, 2017
beautiful picture book about a dystopian world where a boy likes dangerous books. He finds a picture of a flower which turns out to be a packet of seeds which he germinate, providing the first spot of colour in his world.
Profile Image for RhiannaH.
249 reviews3 followers
February 10, 2018
A heart-warming story that makes the reader reconsider the pace of our lives and what we appreciate it. This book illustrates perfectly the benefits of appreciating the smaller things in life and the acknowledgment of the power that these small things have to bring joy and happiness.
Profile Image for Stanlee Uy.
74 reviews1 follower
November 8, 2019
Could probably cross-curricular it with Literacy (creative writing [emphasis on adjectives] on what if common objects were extinct or lacking) and Science (non-animal living things, germination, plant anatomy).
Profile Image for zunggg.
545 reviews
November 6, 2024
When you take a child's first dystopia, and add a bucketload of nuance and understated emotion, a smidgen of spicy humour, and heartfelt, original artwork, what you get is this utter gem of a book. Definitely worth buying.
Profile Image for BlackhamBooks.
249 reviews8 followers
March 18, 2025
I don't know ... to me, this feels like one of those "children's books" that's really for adults. The whole story, and the illustrations ... while adults might "ahhh" over them, I just can't imagine that a child would really get pulled in. I could be wrong.
Profile Image for Naomi Ruth.
1,637 reviews50 followers
July 15, 2021
There are some really great details in the illustrations, it uses colour very well, and it's a sweet story about bringing plant-life into the urban sprawl, which I'm all about.
Profile Image for Daena.
149 reviews1 follower
November 13, 2024
What a pretty book and the story made me feel a little bit melancholy in its own way without losing hope. Perfect present for one of the littles this Christmas.
Profile Image for Suzannah Thompson.
45 reviews
February 27, 2017
The Flower follows a boy whose life lacks beauty. He finds a book with a secret and learns what he's been missing.
I didn't love this one. It seemed just a little too dark, which some people might think is really cool! It's definitely unique.
I would use this to talk about color and contrast. I would recommend it to older kids maybe.
Profile Image for Lucy.
6 reviews
February 21, 2017
OK. Se que este libro ya lleva rato publicado, y probablemente si les interesa leerlo les cueste un poquitín conseguirlo. Lo mandé pedir porque se me ocurrió recomendarlo cuando trabajaba en la librería, y vendí las tres piezas que teníamos. Error mío.
Por fin lo tengo en mis manos, un poco maltratado, pero está completo, legible, y es lo que cuenta.
Este libro fue recomendación de uno de mis compañeros de trabajo, y, como se lee en menos de diez minutos, me tomé el tiempo de leerlo y me enamoré completamente de la historia, que, siendo un libro infantil, te deja un mensaje muy poderoso.
Es una distopia pintada de una manera muy entendible para los pequeños, pero que si pega cuando se está consciente de que es a lo que estamos yendo, sin retorno.
Es un libro que recomiendo mucho y que siento que todos deberían leer, así sea por mera curiosidad si se lo llegan a topar en la librería.
5/5
30 reviews
October 29, 2014
This story was about a boy who lives in a town without color. Every day he seems to go unnoticed in this black and white world. One day he is at the library and he finds a book that says "do not read", so of course he takes it home. In the book their was a beautiful picture of a flower and Brigg was amazed by it. In the back of the book their were seeds. Brigg then scoops up dust from around town and plants the seeds in a mug and pours water into it. A few days past and the beautiful flower grows, unfortunately it gets sucked up by the cleaning machine. Brigg is very sad but goes to a junk yard and finds a picture of a flower. He searches all over town for some seeds and when he comes across piles of dirt he see's that flowers are growing on top of them. This satisfies him and he is happy in the end.

In my opinion this book was a little creepy. I don't really think it is an appropriate picture book for younger ages. I did not care for the illustrations because they were so dark. Brigg looked like a character from a haunted house. It looked like he had dark eyeliner on and everything about him seemed eerie. The only color in this book was basically the flower. The illustrations did not pop and I couldn't really connect with them.

I did enjoy the message of this story. Dystopian stories usually show you a perfect world and then show you how it is not perfect. However Brigg never gave up for what he was searching for. Although he was just a small boy in this big city, he found a way to add color to his life and ended up being happy in the end. This teaches kids to never give up on something that they really want.
30 reviews1 follower
October 28, 2014
One of the very few dystopian picture books, "The Flower", shows a little boy named Brigg living in a corrupt world. Everyone in the world looks the same and acts the same. Brigg is different, he doesn't walk the same way the people in his town do. One day he discovers a book with a flower and that leads him on a journey to finding his own flower. He experiences the beauty and colorfulness of the plant, but it is quickly taken away. He searches for the plant and vows to fill the city with them.
John Light creates a dystopian society through his use of color. The bad parts of the world are done in a solitary and sad gray. The pictures are very depressing, not child friendly in my opinion. To show the good in the society, he added color to people and things. These are very bold indicators of the good and bad. The shadow around the people's eyes show the depressing tone of the story. The illustrations dramatically change as Brigg's flower grew.
This picture book contains many qualities of a dystopian book. The book shows conformity in the people and setting. It also shows that conformity restricts freedom and therefore happiness. The beginning of the book has very uniform images, until the flower page. The page with flowers is very chaotic and unruly. The last page however combines these two aspects and shows that the world needs both chaos and order. Later in the book, Brigg travels to the outskirts of his town. This place is described as the outer edge. Dystopian books' setting is limited as if where they live is the entire world. This book was well done.
Profile Image for Selina.
30 reviews26 followers
October 29, 2014
The Flower is a picture book that falls in the genre dystopia. The book is about young man who works in a library and one day finds a book that says Do Not Read on it but he takes it anyways. It has a picture of a big flower. He sets out all over town to find a flower; he finds seeds and plants a flower. Until one day he comes home and his entire flower are sucked up out of his room. He eventually finds more flowers because all his flowers made more flowers.

The flower in this story I think represents freedom. The illustrations are very bland without color and all of a sudden when the flower comes into play there is color and the flower is the only thing that remains color. The main character also becomes happier when seeing the flower. So I also think the flower represent happiness. I think that children can relate and catch these themes because of the color scheme.

The illustrations I didn’t connect well and also don’t think children will either. The characters don’t look happy from the beginning. The colors set a mood of sadness and depression. The main character lives alone and his room doesn’t look homey at all. He lives alone and look very young for his age to be living alone.

I don’t think that child would really relate to this book nor be very interested. The story line isn’t hard to follow along but isn’t very detailed and vivid. I wasn’t very interested in the book and I feel that it would strongly enough grabs a child attention enough. Also the end doesn’t have a set ending and I feel a child would question why there is no set ending.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 50 reviews

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