About the Holiday

Pop quiz! Do you know what the national flower is? If you took a clue from today’s holiday and said the rose, you’re right! The first National Rose Month was observed in 1959, but the rose was not named the national flower until 1986. Five states—Georgia, Iowa, New York, North Dakota, and Oklahoma—claim the rose as their state flower, although four of the more than 150 species are represented among them. To celebrate this month, visit a local botanical garden to enjoy the beautiful blossoms and aroma or add a rose bush to your landscaping. And of course, a gift of roses is always appreciated.

Rose’s Garden

By Peter H. Reynolds

 

Rose was no ordinary adventurer. “She explored the world in her fantastic teapot,” and took home seeds from each place as souvenirs. When the teapot was overflowing with seeds, Rose knew it was time to plant her garden. Floating along in her teapot, Rose noticed a city on the horizon. When she got close the harbormaster told her about a lovely spot upriver, but Rose wanted to explore the city first.

Rose wandered through the city and, in the midst of the busiest part, “she spotted a dusty, forgotten stretch of earth. Hmmm, Rose pondered. This little patch needs some color.” Rose cleaned it up and raked the soil, thinking of how wonderful this little spot could be. When she went back to her teapot to get her seeds, however, she discovered that a flock of birds had eaten them all.

There were only a few seeds remaining in the bottom of the teapot. Rose placed them in her pocket, returned to her patch, and planted them. She watched over them and waited…and waited. “But nothing seemed to happen.” The soil was either too wet or too dry. Then cold weather came too soon. Rose “waited through the snowy winter.”

When spring came, Rose was still there waiting. “Word spread of Rose’s faith in her garden.” One day, a girl stopped by with a gift for Rose. “It was a paper flower” that she had made for Rose’s garden. The next day, a boy came by with a paper flower he had made. Rose happily accepted it. “‘This well be in good company when my own flowers bloom!’” she told him.

Every day, it seemed, children came with paper flowers they’d made for Rose’s garden. Each one told Rose a story about how they had come to live in the city, journeying “from all over the world, like seeds carried on a breeze.” Soon, Rose’s garden was filled edge to edge with colorful paper flowers. As Rose “waded among them, she heard a sound. A buzzing.” In front of her a bee landed on a flower—but this was no paper flower. Then Rose gazed across her garden and noticed real flowers all around her.

Rose’s “faith had gathered a garden—and the stories of a city.” Rose realized that this little patch was home. Her amazing teapot now sits in the middle, and everyone is invited to enjoy the quiet, colorful garden.

With his well-known touch for turning the commonplace into magic, Peter Reynolds takes a teapot, seeds, and a forgotten city lot and creates a metaphorical microcosm of a more-perfect inclusive world. What could more welcoming than a cup of tea or more universal than a seed? As child after child offers Rose a flower of their own making and their stories, Reynolds reveals the openness of children to transform their world with hope, belief, and action. The blending of the paper flowers and the real ones (and perhaps they are the same?) show that roots develop in all sorts of ways and that we should not just find a home, but nurture one as well.

As Rose sails the world alone in her teapot, Reynolds washes the world with a soft mottled brown, suggesting that Rose lives in a perpetual autumn in which seeds are plentiful but the colors of spring and summer are past. It’s only when her teapot is full that Rose decides to plant her garden. As often happens with stored-up, unused potential, the seeds are lost to more mundane purposes when the seabirds eat them, leaving only a trace to fulfill Rose’s dreams. The strength of those dreams—and the help available to make them reality—however, is beautifully depicted as one bright flower and then another and another is planted, soon multiplying into a vibrant field of color.

Rose’s Garden makes a touching read aloud for story times about inclusiveness, belief in oneself and one’s convictions, hope, and the meaning of home. Pair it with a packet of wildflowers for a thought-provoking book extension.

Ages 5 and up

Candlewick, 2009 | ISBN 978-0763646417

Discover more about Peter H. Reynolds, his books, and his art on his website.

National Rose Month Activity

Paper Flower Bouquet

 

Just like the children in Rose’s Garden, your kids can make these paper flowers that will brighten anyone’s day. With all of the beautiful colors of tissue paper, they can create a whole bouquet or garden of flowers to share with friends or family. 

Supplies

• Tissue paper in many colors
• Green paper
• Green wire for stems
• Scissors
• Tape or glue
• Pliers

Directions

To make the stem

1. Bend a 1 ½ -inch loop in the top of the wire
2. Squeeze the wire together so it will fit tightly over the tissue paper

To make a flower

1. Cut 6 or more 7-inch squares from tissue paper, mixing colors (you can make various sizes of flowers by making the squares larger or smaller and adding more squares)
2. Gather all the squares together and fold them together accordion-style in 1-inch folds
3. Slide the folded tissue paper under the wire loop, and tighten the wire
4. Gently fan the tissue paper out on each side
5. Beginning on one side, gently pull each sheet of tissue paper up toward the center
6. Repeat step 5 on the other side

To make leaves

1. Cut leaves from green paper, leaving a stem to wrap around the wire flower stem
2. Fold the leaf stem around the wire and tape or glue

You can find Rose’s Garden at these booksellers

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

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