June is National Rose Month
The Blue Rose
by Maurice Baring and pictures by Anne Dalton
There was once an Emperor in China who had a beautiful and wise daughter, and though he was old, he wanted to see her married to someone who was worthy of her before he died. So he decided that only the suitor who brought back the Blue Rose would marry his daughter. Many of the suitors said this was impossible and left, but many of the others went looking for this Blue Rose. One suitor went to a nearby kingdom and stole a large sapphire in the shape of a rose, but this was not the Blue Rose. One suitor went to a shopkeeper for a blue rose, and the shopkeeper died a white rose blue. This was not the rose that the princess was looking for, though. The Lord Chief Justice had a china cup with blue roses painted on it made, and though the princess kept the beautiful cup, it was not the blue rose she was looking for. Will any suitor be able to find the Blue Rose? Will the princess be happy with the suitor who finds it?
Time to Smell the Roses
by Michael Hoeye
Hermux Tantamoq is busy preparing for his wedding when he reads an article about a squirrel’s body that had washed up on the shores of Thorny End. The mayor says it was an accident, but Hermux is not convinced. There is a battle going on between Reezor Bleesom and his rival, Tucka Mertslin over their cosmetics and perfume in Thorny End (which could be part of the mystery). The clocktower needs repairing, too, and Hermux hopes he (as a watchmaker) can get the job. He also tries to buy a bouquet of roses for his fiancée and finds a very strange bee there with a monogram on its stomach. Is this bee tied to the mystery of what’s going on in Thorny End? When he is called by the mayor of Thorny End, he thinks that he going to fix the clocktower. While he is at Thorny End, he finds that he is being hired to look for the mayor’s son, instead. During his investigation, Hermux finds something that ties the missing son and those roses he bought for his fiancée to Tucka Mertslin and her Institute of Positive Thinking, and then he finds out that the bees (like the one that stung him) have a tie to the Institute, too. Will Hermux be able to find the missing son? Will he be able to figure out what is going on at Thorny End?
by Michael Hoeye
Hermux Tantamoq is busy preparing for his wedding when he reads an article about a squirrel’s body that had washed up on the shores of Thorny End. The mayor says it was an accident, but Hermux is not convinced. There is a battle going on between Reezor Bleesom and his rival, Tucka Mertslin over their cosmetics and perfume in Thorny End (which could be part of the mystery). The clocktower needs repairing, too, and Hermux hopes he (as a watchmaker) can get the job. He also tries to buy a bouquet of roses for his fiancée and finds a very strange bee there with a monogram on its stomach. Is this bee tied to the mystery of what’s going on in Thorny End? When he is called by the mayor of Thorny End, he thinks that he going to fix the clocktower. While he is at Thorny End, he finds that he is being hired to look for the mayor’s son, instead. During his investigation, Hermux finds something that ties the missing son and those roses he bought for his fiancée to Tucka Mertslin and her Institute of Positive Thinking, and then he finds out that the bees (like the one that stung him) have a tie to the Institute, too. Will Hermux be able to find the missing son? Will he be able to figure out what is going on at Thorny End?
Rosamund
by Janice Johnson and illustrations by Deborah Haeffele
In England during the reign of Henry II, a new rose grew that was different than any other rose that had grown before. The rose was named Rose Mundi, and its name came from the wife, Rosamund, of the nobleman of the lands where it grew. Over the years, the daughters of the family were often named Rosamund. As time went on, and England changed, the land of this family grew smaller and smaller, and soon, one member of the family had to move his family to America. His daughter, Rosamund, brought some cuttings from a rosebush with her. Then as people moved west, the roses traveled with the family into the Oregon Territory. Rose always had the rosebush there at her home, and when she became an old lady, even though the house had changed, she still had these roses in the fence. Rose’s great-great granddaughter found the land where the house had once been, and she gathered some cuttings of the rose to put in her garden. Will the rose still continue to live in this family’s garden? Will the name Rosamund still continue to be a family name?
by Janice Johnson and illustrations by Deborah Haeffele
In England during the reign of Henry II, a new rose grew that was different than any other rose that had grown before. The rose was named Rose Mundi, and its name came from the wife, Rosamund, of the nobleman of the lands where it grew. Over the years, the daughters of the family were often named Rosamund. As time went on, and England changed, the land of this family grew smaller and smaller, and soon, one member of the family had to move his family to America. His daughter, Rosamund, brought some cuttings from a rosebush with her. Then as people moved west, the roses traveled with the family into the Oregon Territory. Rose always had the rosebush there at her home, and when she became an old lady, even though the house had changed, she still had these roses in the fence. Rose’s great-great granddaughter found the land where the house had once been, and she gathered some cuttings of the rose to put in her garden. Will the rose still continue to live in this family’s garden? Will the name Rosamund still continue to be a family name?
Aunt Mary's Rose
by Douglas Wood and illustrated by LeUyen Pham
Douglas’s Aunt Mary had told him that if he took care of a rose, one day a little bit of him would be inside it. Douglas looked as close at the rose as he could, but he could not see any of himself in the rose. He tells Aunt Mary about it, and she tells him it is a feeling that you get, not something that can be seen. Then she tells him a story about when she was a little girl and her father told her about taking care of the roses and becoming a part of them. Then when her nephews (Douglas’s father and uncle) had no place else to go, she had helped take care of them when they came to live with their grandparents. Mary would make sure that ate their vegetables, wake them up in the mornings, and read them stories at bedtime. The boys also helped with the chores, and Douglas has also helped Aunt Mary with some of those same chores. After grandpa died, Mary took them out to the rosebush and told them what grandpa had told her. They also helped take care of the rosebush like their aunt and grandfather. When they had to move into town because they could not afford to live on the farm anymore, they took the rosebush with them and kept taking care of it. Soon both boys were grown up, and they went off to war. Douglas’s uncle did not make it back from the war. However, parts of both grandpa and Douglas’s uncle are part of the rosebush, and if Douglas takes care of it, he can become part of it, too.
by Douglas Wood and illustrated by LeUyen Pham
Douglas’s Aunt Mary had told him that if he took care of a rose, one day a little bit of him would be inside it. Douglas looked as close at the rose as he could, but he could not see any of himself in the rose. He tells Aunt Mary about it, and she tells him it is a feeling that you get, not something that can be seen. Then she tells him a story about when she was a little girl and her father told her about taking care of the roses and becoming a part of them. Then when her nephews (Douglas’s father and uncle) had no place else to go, she had helped take care of them when they came to live with their grandparents. Mary would make sure that ate their vegetables, wake them up in the mornings, and read them stories at bedtime. The boys also helped with the chores, and Douglas has also helped Aunt Mary with some of those same chores. After grandpa died, Mary took them out to the rosebush and told them what grandpa had told her. They also helped take care of the rosebush like their aunt and grandfather. When they had to move into town because they could not afford to live on the farm anymore, they took the rosebush with them and kept taking care of it. Soon both boys were grown up, and they went off to war. Douglas’s uncle did not make it back from the war. However, parts of both grandpa and Douglas’s uncle are part of the rosebush, and if Douglas takes care of it, he can become part of it, too.
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