How to use this Page

Nature has a way of being cruel and being kind, here are a few fun facts where you can decide, if it is a trick or treat!

-Bats are the only mammals that can fly

-A flamingo can only eat when its head is upside down.

-If a kangaroo’s tail is lifted off the ground it is unable to hop. They use their tail for balance.

-A baby shark is ready to go fast when it is born, so that the mother shark doesn’t eat it.

-An owl can’t move its eyes, but it can turn its head 270 degrees.

-The cassowary is a beautiful bird and is predominately a vegetarian, but it can tear holes in flesh like Swiss cheese.

-The orca has no natural predator in the sea and they hunt in groups just like wolves do on land.

-Rhinos amble through the African Savanna and thickets of dense plants filled with ticks that attach to the rhinos and make them itch! The tick bird rides along while eating the tasty treat!

-The vampire squid is a creepy ocean creature that squirts glowing goo from its arms.

Find these facts and many more in Arbordale’s For Creative Minds sections! Take a look while you are eating your trick or treat loot!

More animal combo silliness! I think I found a theme for this year’s SkADaMo!

What is SkADaMo you might ask? Check it out here.

x

Flora and the Flamingo

by Molly Idle
Chronicle Books        2013
978-1-4521-1006-6                             CALDECOTT HONOR BOOK
Age 4 to 8       32 pages
x
x

“Friendship is a beautiful dance. In this innovative wordless book, a tentative partnership blooms into an unlikely friendship between a girl named Flora and a graceful flamingo. With a twist, a turn, and even a flop, these unlikely friends learn at last how to dance together in perfect harmony. Artist Molly Idle has created a story full of humor and heart, with emotions that leap off the page, and memorable characters who are worthy of countless standing ovations.”

Opening

A flamingo, peacefully standing one-legged in the water, turns its head to look behind it and eyes one little girl, named Flora, standing one-legged in the water, imitating the flamingo, who then turns her head to look behind her.

Review

Do you remember repeating everything your older sibling said or mimicking every movement, just because you could? Flora mimics the flamingo, but not to get the flamingo’s goat. The little girl, in her pink one-piece swimsuit and pink flowered swim cap, takes on the flamingo’s graceful movements and the two begin a beautiful duet.

Words would undeniably be a distraction in the story of Flora and the Flamingo. Movement flows from a variety of flip pages attached atop Flora or the flamingo on several of the pages. For example, Flora imitates the flamingo’s stance:  standing on one leg, head tucked under a wing. Flip down the flaps and the stances change. Both dancers remain on one leg, but now each twists her head toward the other, possibly checking to ensure the other is still there.

The flamingo is Flora’s mirror, or maybe Flora is the flamingo’s mirror. Each bend, each stretch, each turn, and each look magically appear on both characters at the same time. Flora and the Flamingo will make you giggle and grin. Young girls will love the mystical dance between these two unlikeliest of friends. Before a friendship can be established, the flamingo LETS Flora have it! The shock of flamingo’s sharp bleat flips Flora over and up, landing her on her rear, unhappy. Flora turns her back, refusing to play any longer, but the flamingo finds this worse than being shadowed. It offers Flora a wing, which Flora thinks about before allowing flamingo to help her to her feet.  (Are these two friends or siblings?)

At the moment of friendship, when Flora and the flamingo become dancing partners instead of solo acts, the spread takes on a drastic change. The two begin together on one page. They had begun their awkward dance with the flamingo firmly staying on the left page and Flora on the opposing right page of the spread. Now both are on the right page, figuratively and physically. Their movements become wider, and joyous. The two fly across the spread, smiling as they float, as if on ice. Then there is a big finale, as all great ballets should have. The finale is a wonderful dance only Flora and her flamingo can perform, together in the same spotlight, four pages in length. BRAVO!

Girls will love this graceful dance between friends, especially those little girls starting their first ballet lessons, wearing their pink tutus, and pink leotards, and some with pink ballet shoes, while others still will have pink ribbons in their hair. Flora is at her first class and flamingo is the instructor. This makes a wonderful baby-shower gift, when the parents-to-be know they have a girl on the way.  Flora and the Flamingo is a beautiful book, with brilliant illustrations that float across the pages. It is no surprise Flora and the Flamingo became a Caldecott Honor Book. The medal winner must have been an amazingly illustrated picture book to beat out these two graceful dancers.

FLORA AND THE FLAMINGO. Story and Illustrations copyright © 2013 by Molly Idle. Reproduced by permission of the publisher, Chronicle Books, San Francisco, CA.

Purchase  Flora and the Flamingo at Amazon—B&N—Book Depository—iTunes—Chronicle Books—your favorite bookstore.

x

Learn more about Flora and the Flamingo HERE.

Meet the author / illustrator, Molly Idle, at her website:      http://idleillustration.com/

Find more books that are luscious at the Chronicle Books website:    http://www.chroniclebooks.com/

x

Also by Molly Idle

FLORA AND THE PENGUIN     2014

x

x

Flora and the Penguin
2014

Ever wondered why some creatures appear to be truly ‘at one’ with themselves and their environment?   Yoga has become so popular, it has even extended to the realm of animals.  These pics show the practice of yoga to indeed be universal.

Image source

Just a little warm up.  One leg at a time.  Of course, some creatures have more legs to warm up than others.  A spot of leaf-top leg-bend yoga has become a popular way for these fellas to kick off their mornings before a busy day doing, er… beetley things.

Image source

A candid shot taken at a mid-morning flamingo yoga class.  Now, all together, the “tree” pose.  Hold… and breathe….  Hey, you at the back.  I said “tree” not “teapot”.

Image source
This dragonfly is carrying out a lovely elbow balance known in human yoga as the “feathered peacock pose”.  A true yogi.  Note the focus and stillness required to successfully perform this pose.  Years of practice.  Only a master could achieve this.

Image source
Nice to see a squirrel having a good shot at the “plough” pose  Either that or he’s trying to let loose a little trapped wind.  …. Or he’s dead.

Image source
Yes, it is ultra-sandy.  Oh you said “ustra-sana” - my mistake.  Yes, that’s yoga-ese for “camel” pose.   Although, the camel is refusing to join in  -  he’s got the hump.  (Any other hump jokes - please keep to yourselves)

Image source
Some animals have become so proficient at meditation, they have evolved a middle eye.  This frog now sees only with his third eye, having lost the use of the first two.

Image source

And finally, a beautiful photo captured during  this iguana’s early evening ’sun salutation’ sequence.  Let the photo speak for itself.  Namaste.  (That means “I respect the god within you that is also within me”  or words to that effect.  Yoga people say this a lot)

So I started playing the ukulele a couple months back (”playing” in the most generous use of the word) and the tiny instrument has since formed a special place in my heart. Lately I’ve noticed that they have been appearing all around me: on the little scraps of paper that I keep beside my desk to doodle on, in my sketchbooks, and sometimes, in my illustrations of hat lovin’ flamingos.

Yesterday the family and I went to the launch party for my friend author/illustrator Sheila Jarkins new book Marco Flamingo. The kids had so much fun. Above is one of the fuzzy little birds that made their way home with us.





One activity that I thought was particularly clever was the "Flamingos on Ice". Sheila had frozen dozens of flamingos in an ice block and the kids poured hot water over the block to free the birds. Bookmarks, pink shaving cream, lots of tasty goodies, display of original art and live music, all made for a great event. The turnout was impressive. The afternoon culminated in Sheila reading to the kiddies. I can't wait till Marco's next adventure.

I've had this story percolating for a long time. It just hasn't jelled yet. To jump start it, I decided to color one of my sketches. Let's hope this is the start of something good.

I've had a lot of interesting things happen lately. I saw Louise Hay on Oprah, which reminded me to think positively, develop a vision, and to let it go. I don't really believe that "put it out to the universe" thing. I believe, rather, that when you have a vision and think positively, you are more aware of the opportunities that come your way. That being said, "The Universe" is messing with me. One of the many things that have happened in the last week is that I had a passing thought that a gym membership would be a good thing to have in order to build my strength for skiing. It's not in the budget right now, but the day after that thought, a free 30 day trial coupon arrived from my old gym. Spooky. If the universe is listening, I'd like to win the lottery;-)