The Rare, Tiny Flower

The Rare, Tiny Flower is a beautifully produced picture book that explores themes of difference, divisiveness, tolerance, and unity as well as the agency of children through a thoughtful parable told in rhyming verse and accompanied by deeply felt illustrations. This timely and timeless tale by Kitty O’Meara, like her best-selling book about the pandemic, And the People Stayed Home, offers wisdom relevant to difficult current situations and provides hope for resolution and growth.

 

This rhyming poem features a mysterious flower in the midst of a forest that appears as a different color to each viewer, which leads to escalating strife as everyone insists that their vision is “right.” World leaders and even botanists are unable to agree on the nature of the flower, and declare war as a way to resolve the conflict. It takes the vision and bravery of a young girl to point out that the flower is, in fact, quite multidimensional. Remarkably, she has the ability to be heard by the squabbling masses, who then see beyond their fighting and begin to rebuild bridges of communication and commit to connecting with one another and respecting varying points of view.

 

Kitty O’Meara’s thoughtful poem includes people realizing and voicing this important lesson[A1] :

“Maybe there are

other colors to see;

what’s lovely to you

could be lovely to me.”

O’Meara is the author of a bestselling book about the pandemic, And the People Stayed Home, based on her poem that went viral. The Rare, Tiny Flower also speaks to current world events as well as truths about human nature. O’Meara’s wise words are paired with evocative illustrations by Quim Torres.