Florette by Anna Walker
Viking, 2017. ISBN 9780670079414
For children moving house away from friends and familiar things can
be tougher than parents realise, and especially so when the move is
from one well-known environment to one that is completely unknown.
Mae and her family move from her house with a garden, an apple tree,
daisies and daffodils, green grass and birds to an inner-city
apartment that is all rooftops and tall buildings - the epitome of
the concrete jungle. There are no windy paths and leafy cubbies,
just statues and Keep Off The Grass signs. There are no treasures
for her treasure jar, just boxes and more boxes and when she tries
to draw familiar things on the pavement outside, the rain washes
them away. No matter what she does, Mae cannot make this new place
resemble her old one.
But one day, standing on a box peering through her binoculars at the
endless rooftops, she spies an open space with swings in the
distance and so she, her mum and dog set off to find it. It is a
long walk through this unforgiving city and the end result is a
disappointment. But as she sits forlornly on the swing, she spies a
bird and follows it until it disappears into a leafy forest. But the
forest is closed. And then Mae spots something that changes things...
Anna Walker is the creator of Mr
Huff, winner of the CBCA Early Childhood Book of the
Year in 2016, Peggy shortlisted in 2013 and a host of other
books that centre around her ability to get into the head of the
subject, consider "what if..." and then emerges through her
gentle, detailed illustrations that bring the text to life and
invite the reader to delve deeply into them.
Mae could be any child who has moved house, perhaps with little say
in the decision made by parents concerned with adult things, who has
discovered themselves amongst the totally unfamiliar but who has
drawn on their inner reserves and resilience to try to make it work
until eventually it does. Without describing Mae's feelings, but
detailing her actions in words and pictures, the reader feels and
understands Mae's vulnerability and bewilderment and yet throughout
there is a sense of hope and a knowledge that she will prevail.
Despite the bleakness of the city and its harsh facade there is a
feeling that Mae will break through - perhaps it is in the children
who come to view her courtyard art amidst empty plants pots or in
the new budding trees as she goes through the streets, or in the
swan, duck and ducklings in the river as the city awakens to spring.
Florette, a small flower that makes up a bigger one, is the
perfect title for this story perfectly encapsulating that concept
of 'from little things...'
A look through Anna
Walker's website shows a host of awards for her work - this
could well be added to that list.
Barbara Braxton