A Daisy Is a Daisy Is a Daisy (Except When It's a Girl's Name)

Gr 1—3—Wolfsgruber explores girls'names inspired by flowers. Many of them, even those from other languages, will be familiar to American readers. For example, Susanna means "lily" in Hebrew and Margarita means "daisy" in Spanish. For each flower, the artist portrays a character—part human, part flower—in a variety of settings and poses. These flower sprites, mostly rendered in watercolor outlined with ink, are very stylized. For some, the floral part constitutes the dress, and for others the head or another part of the child. Some of the drawings have a sketchy look, as if they were drawn in a hurry, while others look more finished. A few readers may be concerned that the flower sprites appear to be partially unclad. The eclectic backgrounds are each unique and decorated with a variety of other mediums. All of the images have a sophisticated, artsy feel that is more likely to appeal to adults than children. Cicely Mary Barker's The Complete Book of the Flower Fairies (Warne, 2010), though not dealing specifically with names, has pictures of flower people that little girls will love. Though Wolfsgruber's book may be of interest to those whose names are mentioned within its pages, for others it is of secondary interest.—Donna Cardon, Provo City Library, UT