The Night Flower by Lara Hawthorne – Book Review
The Night Flower by Lara Hawthorne – Book Review
- Author – Lara Hawthorne
- Publisher – Big Picture Press
- Release Date – 31st March 2022
- Pages – 32
- ISBN 13 – 978-1787418318
- Format – Paperback, Hardcover
- Star Rating – 4
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Synopsis
Winner of the 2020 CBHL Annual Literature Award of Excellence in Children and Young Adult Literature As the summer sun sets over the Arizonan desert, wildlife gathers to witness a very special annual event. The night flower is about to bloom. This celebration transforms the quiet desert for just a short few hours into a riot of colour and sound, as mammals and insects congregate from miles away to take part in this miracle of nature.
From pollinating fruit bats to howling mice and reptilian monsters, explore the unusual wildlife the desert has to offer in this beautiful rhyming non-fiction picture book.
Review by Stacey
The Night Flower tells the true story of the Saguaro Cactus which is in the Sonoran Desert in the USA, for one night a year blooms white flowers which are heavily scented and bring rare pollinators to them.
The book is written in a rhyming style with just a few lines on each page. The pages are highly illustrated with beautiful pictures in mainly dark colours, given that the flowers bloom through the night. It was wonderful to read about this special event that most children and probably many adults will never have heard of before.
At the back of the book is a glossary of terms used as well as a list, information, and an image of the animals that are in the illustrations throughout, and children are asked did they see these animals in the pictures, which I’m sure most will be back and forth through the book making sure they find each of them. There is also a double page with information about the cactus and its life cycle for children to read about.
I love children’s books that educate and this most certainly does that. It is more than that though, it is also a superb story that was fun, mesmerising, and inviting too.
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Lara Hawthorne
Lara Hawthorne graduated from Falmouth University in 2013. Her first picture book, Herb, was published in 2014 and she was selected to illustrate Carol Ann Duffy’s The King of Christmas (Picador, 2016). Inspired by nature, myths and legends, Lara creates wonderful small worlds with her distinct watercolour style. She currently lives in Bristol, UK.
