The Big book of Blooms by Yuval Zommer

There are two things I post on Instagram - book covers and flowers. The Big Book of Blooms is a book about flowers - perfect! Here are some flowers from my area I photographed over the last year.

In this photo you can see Australian native flowers such as the Bottlebrush and my favourite Flannel Flower along with "exotics" such as Hibiscus, Camellia and Bird of Paradise.

Open The Big Book of Blooms. The opening end paper is very special - a dandelion blowing in the wind. The table of contents shows how the flowers in this book are organised. Here are a few examples: Pollinator; Sunflowers; Pitcher Plants; Seeds and seed dispersal; Bird of paradise Flower; Tulips; Cacti; Roses; Giant water lilies; and Cherry Blossoms.

Things I discovered:

• Roses need 15.4 Litres of water to make one flower.
• The underside of a lily pad is covered in sharp spines to protect them from fish.
• Many cactus flowers bloom at night.
• The orange trumpet vine (I have one in my photo collage above) is nicknamed "orange thudg" because it can easily crush other plants using its strong trendrils.
• The bird of paradise flower is pollinated by small birds.

This is a perfect non fiction book. It contains a glossary and an extensive index. There is also fun to be had as you hunt for 15 golden bulbs scattered throughout the book and a page of advice for young gardeners who are now inspired to grow their own blooms. After reading and revisiting this book your young reader might be curious to know more so you should head over to your local library Dewey Number 582.13 to explore more books about the world of flowers.

This has to be my favourite non-fiction title at the moment. Published in association with the Kew Gardens, this is a gorgeous exploration of flowering plants- with a search and find element thrown in. Well indexed. Beautifully illustrated.  Perfectly designed.  As all books should be! Paul Macdonald Children’s Bookshop Facebook comment

This title pairs picture-book charm and concise, informative text to create a beautiful book for children to return to. Zommer’s quirky illustrations appeal to young readers, who will relish these fun and amazing facts about the world’s most exciting plants. MandarinReaders


Here are the other 'big books' by Yuval.

In 2019 I was standing in a bookshop in either London or Edinburgh and I watched Yuval signing some of his 'big books'.  Wish I was a person with more courage. I should have talked to him - silly me - opportunity missed.