Blossom Tales: Flower Stories of Many Folk – illustrated by Sarah Dillard
My first picture book! And with a wonderful publisher, Moon Mountain. And a fantastic illustrator.
A Curriculum Guide to be used with BLOSSOM TALES: FLOWER STORIES OF MANY FOLK (Word document)
While I waited for a publisher to take this manuscript, I found my garden filling up with the characters from the stories: a dwarf, a princess, a mess of fairies, a saint, the wind, a dragon, and many others. I wanted other people to know all these colorful characters in their gardens. So…they don’t help with the weeding. They do offer inspiration to weed.
I’ve grown all the flowers from the book, even the hard to find mignonette, which does indeed make you feel drunk with its strong sweet scent. I believe it could “wake the dead”. I invite you all to grow these flowers and see if the characters arrive. Let me know: if you are in a tulip garden on a moonlit night, can you hear the fairies singing their babies to sleep as they rock them in their tulip cradles?
I love Sarah’s illustrations. My publisher couldn’t have found a better match for the stories. As my stepdaughter said, “I could eat the colors.”
Crocus – Sicily
Morning Glory – Hawaii
Columbine – Iroquois
Lily of Valley – Sussex, England
Peony – Japan
Snapdragon – Russia
Nasturtium – Quechua, South America
Rose – Persia
Dandelion – Ojibwa
Alyssum – Italy
Mignonette – Egypt
Aster & Goldenrod – Cherokee
Geranium – Arab
Tulip – Devon, England
Reviews of Blossom Tales
“A must-buy for storytellers, teachers,
parents and any lover of folklore or flowers.”
– Jim May, Artistic Director,
Illinois Storytelling Festival
“Gardening parents will enjoy this
charming book as much as their children”
– Sydney Eddison, author,
The Self-Taught Gardener
“What a wonderful collection of tales. From now on when I walk
through a garden I’ll look on each of these flowers with new eyes.”
– Dan Keding, storyteller