FLORA AND THE OSTRICH

Flora is back in another board book (Flora and the Chicks, 2017), all the better for little hands just learning basic concepts.

Wearing a purple romper with white lace along the edges and holding a yellow parasol, the little white girl meets an ostrich in matching purple-and-white feathers. As they glance at each other sideways, Flora facing “front” and the ostrich “back” to, Flora says “hello,” and the shy ostrich hides its head in the sand: “goodbye.” And so this tentative pas de deux continues until a friendship is made. The story is told in opposite pairs of words—hide/seek, under/over, give/take, stop/go. Idle’s elegant and graceful images against a white background are quite simply beautiful. On every other double-page spread a gatefold flap opens and extends the word depicted. The last double-page spread shows Flora on one page holding her hand out to the ostrich looking at her on the opposite page, the word between them reading “apart.” As readers open the double page–spanning gatefold, Flora and the ostrich have met in a balletic pose under the parasol, and the word above them reads “together.” Children will be delighted.

Opposites, friendship, and beautiful artwork all in one charmingly designed book.