Moving words about a flower by K. C. Hayes, illustrated by Barbara Chotiner

 I may have agreed to let the city department spray all the dandelions on the library lawn, but I still don't see that they do any harm. The dandelions I mean. They're pretty and you can just mow them, so why the fuss? Anyways, in honor of my own personal convictions that sterile monocultures, i.e. lawns, are Not a Good Thing, I've found some fun books about dandelions, so-called "weeds" and nature for our next nature storytime and this one I discovered was a favorite.

The story begins in a gray city during a storm, where the words fall like rain drops, resulting in a rainbow of words arching above the playground and ending not in a pot of gold, but in a tiny crack in the sidewalk. There a child with dark brown skin and curly hair sees a seed pop up and the dandelion has begun it's journey. The concrete poetry continues, as the words sprout and pop up in green and yellow, then turn to feathery white seeds and float away on the wind, attached to words. A curve of the moon says "That evening the dandelion's last three" and "seeds blew away" is attached to the last three seeds.

The seeds arrive in a field, lie dormant for the winter, then spring up, only to be nibbled by deer and stepped on by a moose. But one dandelion survives to offer food for the bees and create more seeds, which will create more dandelions, this time blown by a child to a new home.

Back matter includes a carefully detailed explanation of the make-up and life cycle of a dandelion and additional paragraphs of information about this cheerful and hardy, although much-vilified flower. 

Verdict: A unique book, great for storytime, learning about plant life cycles, or trying different poetry forms. Recommended.

ISBN: 9781623541651; Published March 2022 by Charlesbridge; Borrowed from another library; Purchased for the library.