I first mentioned this book in March, 2022 not knowing it would be submitted for our CBCA judging in the New Illustrator category. This is a sweet, magical picture book about a young girl who wants to bring some happiness, colour, and wonder to her fast-paced, grey, town. The adults at the beginning of the book tower over April. They have the power, but April is a problem solver.
The choice of dandelion is interesting. Some people regard them as weeds but surely it is all about perception. Just like April’s idea, these flowers come from something small - a tiny seed. Then there is also the tradition of blowing on a dandelion to make a wish. The beautiful pages at the end of the story that show an array of flowers with their meanings, and this offers another layer of significance to the choice of dandelions in the story. Do you have a favourite flower? I love the iris (means good news); freesia (means I'm here for you); the hyacinth (means I'm glad); Hydrangea (means I really mean it); and all varieties of roses.
The ideas or theme found in Tiny Wonders is perhaps not original – I am thinking of The Promise by Nicola Davies; The Secret Sky Garden by Linda Sarah; and One Tree by Chris Cheng and other titles you can see in my earlier blog post – but this text has another layer of meaning when we read the inspirational wisdom of the child's late grandmother.
These illustrations appeal to our senses – sight of course, but you can almost hear the seeds blowing on the wind and smell the rain, soil and flowers. The dandelion seeds on the end papers will help readers anticipate the tiny wonders that April grows. The final page with 48 flowers and their meanings is both botanical and delightful.
Every piece of text that talks about grandma is in the past tense so clearly, she is no longer here but this is never specified. To show this, I like the way the flowers are floating in the sky on the page where April is remembering her grandmother’s wise words and the page with purple tones when she remembers Grandma again. The changing sky on the seed growing sequence page is the perfect way to show the passing of time and seasons.
Using red as a spot colour on the page with all the busy people echoes the idea that April is a bright ray of hope who will be able to add colour to her world (and perhaps move people away from the distraction of their phones). I love the way the illustrator uses full pages; half pages; vignettes; small frames; and picture sequences. Sally Soweol Han is an exciting discovery, and her work has been recognized as the 2023 CBCA (Children's Book Council of Australia) New Illustrator award winner.
Here are the judges' comments shared at the CBCA Conference in Melbourne. I was one of the judges and these comments were written by one of our team for the video we made about the short list:
The choice of artistic medium in this book is perfect for the narrative. The visible pencil lines create a sense of life and colour and this is used throughout the narrative to create character, setting and shifts in mood. There are also different layouts which show the passing of time. There is a subtle message about sustainability but also about finding beauty in the world around us and there are gorgeous visual depictions of different flowers throughout. The end papers help to emphasise this by showing the pure and simple joy of blowing a dandelion and spreading your wishes to the world.
Here is an interview with Sally Soweol Han - she lives in Sydney, Australia but was born in Korea. Here is her website. You can also explore her work on Instagram. Here are some teachers notes for Tiny Wonders.
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