FLORA’S SURPRISE!
by Debi Gliori & illustrated by Debi Gliori
Like Pat Hutchins’s Titch (1971) and its many successors, this unbridled charmer, which features the return of Flora (Flora’s Blanket, 2001, etc.), has this littlest member of her family making a distinctive contribution to a shared enterprise. Sent to the sidelines as Norah and Cora plant bulbs, and Sam, Tom, and Max spread seed, Flora finally collects a clay pot from her father and “plants” a brick in it—“I’m growing a house,” she explains. Everyone smiles indulgently. But guess who gets the last laugh? After a summer’s and a winter’s passages, Flora leads everyone out into the garden, and proudly shows off her handiwork, now a “house” for a nesting mother bird. Gliori pairs clean-lined, toddler-pleasing scenes of an affectionate clan of flop-eared bunnies in comfortable, colorfully patterned clothing to a large-type text; the whole episode glows with genuine, non-sticky affection, and will leave readers feeling as if they’ve just been hugged. (Picture book. 4-6)