Raymond's Perfect Present

by Therese on Louie, Suling Wang (Illustrator)

One day Raymond sees a young woman smile with pleasure when she is given a gift of flowers. Maybe I could buy Mom some flowers, Raymond thinks, to help her feel better now that she is home from the hospital.

When Raymond realizes he doesn't have enough money to buy flowers, he decides to grow them from seeds, but his mother has to return to the hospital before the flowers bloom. As the flowers grow and then begin to wilt, Raymond fears his mother will never see his present after all. The gift she receives instead is a total surprise, and more perfect than anything Raymond has planned.

Winner of LEE & LOW'S New Voices Honor Award, Raymond's Perfect Present captures the innocence of a child's love for his mother as he struggles through a difficult time. This heart-warming story reaches out to all readers who have sought to give those they love the -perfect present.-

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens

32 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 2002

Reviews

[Margaret]

The kid tries to give his mother some flowers but they die before she gets out of the hospital. But the flowers end up dropping seeds somehow into the garden and growing new flowers. This book is good for children with ailing mothers.

[Matthew]

This addressed heavy subject matter, but it did it with honesty and care. All in all, I was very pleased. The story of a boy who only wants to cheer up his ailing mother with limited resources, it ultimately offers a surprisingly hopeful outcome when everything else turns sour.

[Dolly]

This is a melancholy tale about a young boy who desperately wants to bring joy to his sick mother. The narrative is short and the illustrations, created "in pencil, scanned into a computer, and then further designed with Adobe Photoshop and a Wacom Pad" help to convey the emotions of the characters and tell the boy's story.

I liked the fact that the story was not overly predictable and avoided the kind of saccharine ending that many children's picture books resort to. Overall, I really enjoyed reading this book.

[Lonica]

Couldn't read this book without crying. Nothing too spectacular, just a really sweet story.

[Christine Turner]

Library School Journal recommends this book for Gr 2-4.

A Chinese American boy receives a nice surprise of his own when he tries to surprise his mother with flowers that he grew.