Flowers

Flower Garden
by Eve Bunting and illustrated by Kathryn Hewitt

A little girl and her father buy some flowers at the store and carry them home. The little girl is so excited about the plans for the flowers. Riding on the bus with the flowers brings smiles from the other passengers, and finally, they are home at their apartment with the flowers. The little girl and her father set to work putting down newspapers and putting potting soil in the window flower box. The flowers are purple pansies, daisies, daffodils, geraniums, and tulips, and each type of flower is put in the flower window box in a certain place. Then they put the window flower box out on the ledge outside the window. Soon, the little girl sees butterflies and ladybugs come to visit the flowers. The little girl also notices all the people on the street below, and she hopes that they will enjoy the flowers, too. What is the special reason that the little girl and her father are planting these flowers? Will it be a great surprise?















Planting a Rainbow
by Lois Ehlert

Every year a child and mother plant a rainbow. How do you think they do that? First, they buy some bulbs in the fall and plant them in the ground with a little sign to tell what flower each bulb will become. Then they order seeds from catalogs. In the spring, the soil warms up, and the bulbs start to sprout into flowers. Then the mother and child go to the garden center for some seedlings, such as roses, violets, pansies, and carnations. Then they plant the seeds and seedlings into the soil, and now it is time for the rainbow to grow. Each page then has beautiful pictures of the different colors of the flowers. The first pages are red, yellow, blue, and purple. Then there are a list of flowers that come in the different colors, such as red roses, orange tiger lilies, yellow daffodils, green ferns, blue morning glories, and purple irises. What will they do with their rainbow of flowers? What do you think will happen the next year after all of the flowers have gone?

















Martha Says It with Flowers
based on the teleplay by Peter K. Hirsch and on the characters created by Susan Meddaugh

Martha tries very hard to be helpful to others with her special talent of being able to talk (most dogs cannot talk, you know), but she never seems to please Helen’s grandmother, Lucille. One day, Martha brought Grandma Lucille’s hat to her, but she had accidentally messed it up while carrying it in her mouth. Grandma Lucille was not very happy. Helen suggests that Martha do something nice for Grandma Lucille for her birthday to make up for the hat. Martha thinks that it is a great idea. Martha shows Helen a card for Grandma Lucille, but Helen suggests she look for something at The Wagging Tail Gift Shop. She finds a rotten apple with a worm in it, but Grandpa Bernie does not think that Grandma Lucille would enjoy that, either. Then she gets a great idea, and she goes to the park to pick some flowers for Grandma Lucille, because Grandma Lucille had some flowers on her hat. The only problem is that she picks the flowers five days before the party. What do you think will happen to the flowers by Grandma’s Lucille’s birthday? Will Martha be able to get some new flowers for Grandma Lucille? Will she get them there successfully?

Fletcher and the Springtime Blossoms

by Julia Rawlinson with illustrations by Tiphanie Beeke

Fletcher is enjoying smelling the new springtime flowers and playing chase with the butterflies. Then he tumbles down the hill and into the orchard, and in the orchard there is something surprising. Fletcher sees snowflakes dancing through the breeze, even though it is late in spring. Fletcher goes looking for other animals to tell about the snow. He sees two birds cooing on a branch. The birds are glad that Fletcher tells them about the snow, but they want to warn Porcupine about the snow, so Porcupine will go back to sleep. Porcupine is getting up when Fletcher and the birds stop by. Porcupine is happy to know about the snow, but he needs to warn Squirrel, so that Squirrel can look for more nuts. Squirrel is playing in the sunbeams, and Squirrel is concerned about Rabbit, so they go to warn the rabbits, too. The rabbits want to play in the snow before they start munching on more grass. Will all of the animals find snow when they go to the orchard? What could Fletcher have seen if it was not snow in the orchard?