The Language of Flowers - Dena Seiferling

The Language of Flowers by Dena Seiferling / ISBN 9780735270534 / 56-page hardcover, 8.2 x 11.3 inches, from Tundra Books

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An adopted bumblebee learns the language of flowers from her floral family in this enchanting picture book, inspired by floriography, that celebrates one of nature's most important relationships.

Deep within a magical meadow, some lonely flowers receive a very special gift: a baby bumblebee in need. The flowers name her Beatrice, they care for her and help her find her wings. And as she grows older, Beatrice learns the language of her floral family — messages of kindness and appreciation that she delivers between them. With each sweet word, the flowers bloom until the meadow becomes so big that Beatrice needs help delivering her messages and decides to set out in search of her own kind. But this little bee’s quest takes her beyond the safety of the meadow and into the dangerous swamp the flowers have warned her about, a swamp inhabited by strange plants with snapping jaws and terrible teeth...will these prickly plants let her pass? Could they just be in need of a little sweetness themselves?

A gently fanciful tale of the miracle of pollination and the important relationship between flowers and bees, this sweetly affirming story, inspired by the Victorian practice of floriography, suggests the secret to flourishing is kindness and appreciation.

Dena Seiferling is an illustrator and needle-felt artist who graduated with a BFA and Visual Communications Degree from the Alberta College of Art and Design where she later worked as an instructor. She is the illustrator of King Mouse, which was a finalist for the Governor General’s Literary Award, and its companion book Bear Wants to Sing, as well as Alice and Gert: An Ant and Grasshopper Story. The Language of Flowers marks her authorial debut and was inspired by the love of flower gardening that has connected her maternal family through the generations. In her garden in Calgary, Alberta, Dena grows peonies for her mother, forget-me-nots for her grandmother and daffodils for her children.