11 Books About Flowers

Our crocuses popped up this week and my daughter and I can’t get enough of how cute they are. You can see them on our Instagram too. I know many of you still have snow but hopefully these books about flowers can bring some spring into your house even if the flowers haven’t popped up in your garden yet. All our book lists contain affiliate links to Amazon.com. If you have a favorite book about flowers that we haven’t shared leave a comment so we can keep building this list.

A Gardener’s Alphabet by Mary Azarian is a fresh and richly illustrated alphabet book. What I think the main benefit of this book is , is that the words chosen for each letter are not the same old ones you see over and over in alphabet books. The words used are things like Japanese Garden for J, Lawn Ornaments for L and my favorite was Underground for U with a cool illustrations of worms, root vegetables and plant roots as well.

The Tiny Seed by Eric Carle is a story about a tiny seed who unlike the other seeds from his flower makes it against all odds to continue the cycle of life. I really enjoy this book. I love how it shows all the obstacles along the way for a simple little seed. My children both really like this book and I like how it connects kids to nature.

Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney is a book about a woman Miss. Rumphius who follows her heart. She travels the world, lives by the sea and then does exactly what her grandfather tells her she must do, makes the world more beautiful. What I adore about this book isn’t just that the main character is sure of herself in that quiet way that only really confident people can be its that it’s a call to action. How are you going to make the world a more beautiful place? Her grandfather didn’t suggest that she had to make a beautiful home or make a beautiful family. He placed the full weight and expectations of going out into the world and making it better.

Planting a Rainbow by Lois Elhert is a wonderful book to use for teaching about flowers and colors. The illustrations are bold and bright, perfect for curious little minds. I have always liked this book because you can sit down and read about each flower at length or flip through simply noting the colors.

Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes is a lovely book about having confidence, losing confidence and regaining it in the end. Chrysanthemum is a little mouse who loves her name until she goes to school and is picked on for it being out of the ordinary. Who can’t relate to this? I know I can. Thankfully my son has yet to experience this all too common, but still so heartbreaking experience. I love that I have a book like this to share with him and open up about it before it happens. Ultimately Chrysanthemum learns to love her name again and regains the confidence she once had. Another fantastic book from a consistently wonderful author.

The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf is a classic tale about doing your own thing and not letting any amount of pressure change you. Ferdinand is a bull but just because he is doesn’t mean he wants to fight in the bull ring. Ferdinand loves to smell flowers, not fight. I love the message this book has about being who you are no matter what environment you are in. Kids love this book because it’s funny, the text is just the right length and the illustrations are so expressive.

Counting Wildflowers by Bruce McMillan is a simple book but it stands out for me because it is interactive with 20 circles to touch on every page that fill up as you count flowers on each page. The reader can count the blooms, and then count again with the circles , all the way up to 20. When you are trying to reinforce a skill like counting the use of repetition is really helpful. Simple but great.

The Falling Flowers by Jennifer B. Reed . The story is very sweet. It’s about a grandmother taking her young granddaughter on a surprise outing in Tokyo. It turns out that she is taking her to see the cherry trees in full bloom just as her grandmother had done with her. It’s a nice look at the softer side of Tokyo, a city I know I always imagine as only steal, cement and neon lights!

The Gardener by Sarah Stewart Is a really touching book that I would happily recommend for school age children. It’s a beautiful story about a little girl during the depression. She is shipped to the city to work in her uncle’s bakery because both her parents are out of work.  Obviously, she’s nervous but knows that it’s something she has to do.  She takes a little of the country with her in seed packets. She plants them in the city while she learns about baking and becomes friends with her uncle’s employees.

This is more a story about making the most of hard times. It would be a great way to talk about the Great Depression with your child. There are so many little things in the illustrations by David Small to talk about, from a picture of FDR to traveling by train and the general sense of sadness. It doesn’t leave you depressed though, its message is ultimately one of hope.

Zinnia’s Flower Garden by Monica Wellington is really useful not just about teaching about flowers and gardens, but also about patience and the annual cycle of a garden. Zinnia plants and waits, waters, enjoys her flowers. Then when they die, she collects the seeds and plans her garden for next year. I love that the main story is perfect for my almost three year old but there is much more for older children with longer attention spans. There is a little journal with notes about what’s happening with her garden, and various facts about plants as well. Like in so many of her books the author celebrates hard work and her characters take great pride in what they do. A fantastic message for readers, big and little. I also love the mix of illustration and photographs in this book especially. It gives the illustrations depth and a really interesting look.

The Boy Who Grew Flowers by Jennifer Wojtowicz is one of those books that stays with you. Rink is a little boy whose family is strange. Rink is no exception, as with every full moon he sprouts flowers from his head. At school he is an outsider and only when a new girl comes to school does he make a friend. He reaches out to her because she too is an outsider, not at school but in her own family. In the end the kindred spirits celebrate their uniqueness. This odd romantic story will warm your heart. It serves as a great lesson about how we all feel different and like an outsider sometimes. The illustrations by Steve Adams will stun you, they were so vibrant and paired so perfectly with the text.