About the Holiday

Today’s holiday was established in 2006 by the North American Nature Photography Association (NANPA) to promote the enjoyment of taking photographs of nature while out hiking, traveling, or just in your own backyard. Nature photography is a fantastic hobby and a creative way to get you out interacting with the environment. In addition, nature photography allows you to bring home the beauty of fragile ecosystems without hurting the native flora and fauna. Today, grab your camera or phone (or your notebook and pencils) and head out to capture some of the glorious colors and wildlife around you.

Tundra Books sent me a copy of The Golden Glow to check out. All opinions are my own. I’m happy to be partnering with Tundra Books in a giveaway of The Golden Glow. See Details below.

The Golden Glow

By Benjamin Flouw

 

Fox was a collector. As he sat in his armchair, his leafy acquisitions shaded him as if he were in the jungle. Reading through a botany book “looking the next new plant to add to his collection,” he came to a page that had no picture to go with the intriguing description. The plant’s name, he read, is “the golden glow” and it is part of “the Wellhidden family.” The book continues to say that the plant only grows high in the mountains and is so rare no one has ever seen it.

Fox determined that he would find this “fabulously fascinating flower.” He packed his things and in the morning set out to the mountains in the distance. As he walked, he admired the familiar plants along the way. Fox also knew “the name of each tree he walks under.” At the stream, he met Bear and asked him about the golden glow, but Bear knew nothing and suggested Fox talk to Marmot.

Like the golden glow, Marmot also liked to hide. Fox looked in every nook and cranny, but didn’t find her. While Fox was snacking on a grape pate sandwich, his cousin Wolf happened by. He’d never seen the golden glow either, but he could help Fox find Marmot. They crossed a field of wildflowers, and when he and Wolf stopped, Wolf whistled and Marmot answered.

Marmot turned out to be very helpful, telling Fox that the flower could be found at the very top of the mountain. Fox climbed and climbed as the air turned foggy. “Suddenly, a strange shape looms into view….” As Fox got closer, he recognized Mountain Goat. Mountain Goat told Fox that nothing grows at the top of the mountain, but he lent him a walking stick when he saw Fox’s determination.

Fox climbed all the way up 9,800 feet to the snow zone. When the sun peeked out of the clouds, Fox looked around, but he found nothing growing there. The sun was due to set soon, so Fox pitched his tent and watched as the sun dipped lower and lower in the sky. He was just putting down the walking stick when he felt “something brush against his paw…”

Fox brushed away the snow to find “a fabulously fascinating flower.” Fox knew it must be the golden glow. Fox was just about to pick it, when he changed his mind. “This golden glow is more beautiful here on the mountaintop than it ever would be in a vase in his living room.” Instead, Fox reached into his backpack for his notebook and pencil.

Fox studied “the plant from every angle” and then began to draw. When Fox returned home, he “put all of his drawings into his botany book” so that he can look at the golden glow often and remember “just how fabulously fascinating his golden glow is, high up on the mountaintop.”

Just as the simplest flower or leaf, Benjamin Flouw’s story holds delicate charms and hidden complexities that make The Golden Glow a book to be savored through multiple readings. While the book begins as a mysterious adventure story, as Fox journeys to the mountaintop, The Golden Glow offers beautifully detailed images of camping supplies, trees, wildlife habitats, wildflowers, and mountain zones; the quiet, unhurried pace of the text echoes the restorative power of nature; and Fox’s decision to leave the golden glow instead of picking it reminds readers that nature’s bounty belongs to everyone.

After the adventure is over, however, a deeper meaning is revealed in the final line of the book. A simple exchange of modifier from “the golden glow” to “his golden glow” presents a profound opportunity to consider and discuss the nature of individuality, uniqueness, and how people let their “glow” shine. 

Flouw’s distinctive angular illustrations are strikingly evocative of nature while giving the book a fresh look and a feeling of tranquility. The shiny gold foil leaf on the golden glow will elicit “oohs” and “ahhs,” and the penciled image of the golden glow that Fox draws will inspire young botanists to start their own nature notebook.

A gorgeous book that seamlessly combines nonfiction with a fictional story that has depth, The Golden Glow is an inspiring choice for home bookshelves and would be a fit for many classroom lessons as well as general story time.

Ages 4 – 8

Tundra Books, 2018 | ISBN 978-0735264120

To learn more about Benjamin Flouw and view a portfolio of his work, visit his website.

The Golden Glow Giveaway

I’m thrilled to be partnering with Tundra Books to be giving away:

• One (1) copy of The Golden Glow by Benjamin Flouw

To be entered to win, just Follow me on Twitter @CelebratePicBks and Retweet a giveaway tweet during this week, June 15 – 21. Already a follower? Thanks! Just retweet for a chance to win.

Winners will be chosen on June 22.

Giveaways open to US addresses only | Prizing provided by Tundra Books

National Nature Photography Day Activity

Pot a Pic of Flowers Craft

 

A collection of flower photographs can be just as beautiful as a pot of real posies. With this simple craft you can keep memories of flowers and plants you’ve seen while decorating your room or give a unique gift that shows off your photography skills and your love of nature!

Supplies

• Small flower pot
• Green floral wire
• Green construction or heavy-stock paper
• Pliers
• Clay, playdough, or oasis
• Scissors

Directions

To Make the Stem

• Hold one tip of the wire tightly with the pliers
• Wind the wire around the nose of the pliers two or three times. Squeeze the loops together, if necessary.
• Cut the wire to the desired length. An assortment of lengths makes the display more interesting and allows all pictures to show
• Cut small leaves from the green paper and tape to the stems

1. Take pictures of flowers you like with your phone or other camera. Alternately, you can find pictures of flowers online.
2. Print pictures on photo paper or regular paper
3. Place clay, playdough, or oasis in the flower pot
4. Stick the stems into the clay
5. Carefully slide the pictures into the loops on the stems
6. Display or give your flower pot!

You can find The Golden Glow at these booksellers

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Books-a-Million | IndieBound 

Picture Book Review