Flora and the Flamingo

A quick book review today for lovers of beautiful illustration, wordless humour, and dance. And, of course, for parents. Flora and the Flamingo by the wonderful Molly Idle, who started her career as an artist working for DreamWorks Feature Animation before launching a successful career as the author of children’s cooks.

Flora, decked out in a pink swimsuit, yellow swimming cap, and flippers, comes across a flamingo and begins to mimic its graceful movements. Soon the flamingo notices and starts to test Flora’s skill with ever-more complicated moves, resulting in a wonderful dance of two very different creatures. For me, it’s a book about unlikely friendships, the power of letting go and trying something new, and the joy of moving in new and interesting ways, but because there are no words, others will likely have different interpretations of the book.

This is a beautiful book, and the lack of words allows children (and picture-book-loving grown-ups) to enjoy the illustrations and make up their own stories, which means that one book can result in many different stories night after night.