Cactus and Flower

March 1, 2020
A saguaro cactus and its own flower become good friends and immerse themselves in the exuberance of life. They share these "butterfly days" by admiring the many-colored desert sky, the bright stars at night, and the various wild birds and animals. Life is great for the two "buds" until the terrible day a petal is lost to the wind--soon to be followed by all. Cactus is inconsolable--not even a confluence of "all the butterflies in the world" can cheer him. Finally, memories of his friend start evoking joy instead of pain. When a new flower blooms, Cactus is ready to embrace life's mysteries and inevitabilities. Williamson's whimsical portrayal of Sonoran desert animals is the high point of this rather flat paean to the cycle of life. Disappointingly, the author/illustrator presents myriad inaccuracies that elicit first puzzlement and then eye rolls among readers familiar with the region. True saguaro flower clusters are ivory and yellow; the solitary pink flower looks like that of the hedgehog cactus--a different species altogether. Readers may also note that befriending the flower is akin to befriending one's elbow--it is a part of the cactus. It does not, as indicated in the story, live side by side with the saguaro. Despite the subtitle, neither the life cycle of the saguaro nor its blossom's is discussed in any way, shape, or form. This well-intended fable founders amid misrepresentation of basic desert botany. (Picture book. 5-7)

COPYRIGHT(2020) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

April 1, 2020
Preschool-G Pink Flower lives with Cactus in the desert. They do everything together: They watch the sun come up and go down. They enjoy "butterfly days." Sometimes others come to play with them, and every night they look for their friends in the constellations. Cactus slowly but surely grows taller, and Flower gets bigger too: Such is life. But one day Flower lost a petal. Poof. Just like that. As the petals drop until Flower is gone, Cactus' smile droops to a sad and watery Oh. After many days, a new, orange Flower appears, and the butterfly days return. The vertical trim size and full-bleed, double-page spreads done in brightly colored gouache support the simple text for this poignant story. The long-living cacti serve as sturdy friends to the flowers that grow on them, from bud to flower to demise to rebirth, and provide children with a clear introduction to the concept of life cycles.For a fun surprise, the beginning endpapers with animal cloud shapes reappear as constellations in the night sky at the end.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)