Oscar's tower of flowers by Lauren Tobia

Lauren Tobia is an experienced English illustrator who brings us her first solo effort in this wordless picture book. 

Oscar has arrived to stay at his Nana’s place while his mum must go away for a little while. Nana lives in a tower block and although he loves it there, he really misses his mum. To pass the time Nana decides to harness Oscar’s interest in gardening and they plant lots and lots of seeds. The best part of the story is what he decides to do with them when the plants start to overtake Nana’s flat.

This heartwarming story is presented in a mixture of full page and small panel illustrations in which Laura shows us the story of Oscar’s remarkably successful gardening efforts. The illustrations are colourful and the detailed vignettes convey all the emotions and activities that make this book one that can be “read” again and again. Talking and noticing are an essential part of learning to read so wordless picture books are an important contribution as they provide a fantastic medium for adults and children to talk and make stories come to life.

Themes: Grandparents, Gardening, Community, Wordless stories.

Gabrielle Anderson