Flora's Very Windy Day

by Jeanne Birdsall, Matt Phelan (Illustrator)

Overview

"This gem of a book will resonate with older siblings everywhere." --School Library Journal When Flora and her pesky little brother, Crispin, are whisked away by a swirling and swooping wind, she gets the opportunity of a lifetime: the chance to give her brother away. With tempting offers from a dragonfly, the man in the moon, and even the wind itself, she will find it difficult to choose. But Flora would do anything to get rid of Crispin, wouldn’t she?  

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780547994857
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	08/27/2013
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	405,992
Product dimensions:	8.80(w) x 9.80(h) x 0.20(d)
Lexile:	AD520L (what's this?)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Jeanne Birdsall is the National Book Award-winning author of The Penderwicks and its sequel, The Penderwicks on Gardam Street (Knopf), both of which were also New York Times bestsellers. She lives in Northampton, Massachusetts with her husband, three insane cats, and a stubborn Boston terrier named Cagney. Visit her website at www.jeannebirdsall.com.

Matt Phelan's many books include the popular picture book Very Hairy Bear by Alice Schertle and the innovative graphic novel The Storm in the Barn, winner of the Scott O'Dell Award. He lives in Philadelphia. Visit him online at mattphelan.com.  

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"The story's sense and wit are most fully expressed in the text, but the character's actions and emotions are most memorably portrayed in the artwork... A fine picture book with a fierce, bold, and (deep down) compassionate heroine."—Booklist

"Emotionally true from cover to cover."—Kirkus Reviews, STARRED review

"Birdsall's crisp and delightful first picture book....believable characters, a tightly constructed story line, and a nod to past children's literature."—Publishers Weekly

"This gem of a book will resonate with older siblings everywhere."—School Library Journal

Editorial Reviews

"The story's sense and wit are most fully expressed in the text, but the character's actions and emotions are most memorably portrayed in the artwork... A fine picture book with a fierce, bold, and (deep down) compassionate heroine."—Booklist

"Emotionally true from cover to cover."—Kirkus Reviews, STARRED review

"Birdsall's crisp and delightful first picture book....believable characters, a tightly constructed story line, and a nod to past children's literature."—Publishers Weekly
"This gem of a book will resonate with older siblings everywhere."—School Library Journal —

From the Publisher

Matt Phelan's lighter-than-air vignettes seem to float between earth and sky, capturing the emotional dynamics of the story, from silly to scary to sad, and from hostile to hilarious to happy. It's a rare marriage of words and pictures that ends, as all good stories should, with chocolate chip cookies and a hug.
—The Washington Post

Kristi Jemtegaard

Birdsall's (The Penderwicks) crisp and delightful first picture book shares the virtues of her successful middle-grade novels: believable characters, a tightly constructed story line, and a nod to past children's literature--here, to the no-nonsense magic of the Edwardians. Big sister Flora must kick off her cherished "super-special heavy-duty red boots" to be borne aloft so she can rescue her brother, Crispin, when the wind blows him away. They meet a cloud, a sparrow, and other characters, all of whom make the same request: "Will you give me that little boy?" Although Crispin has spilled Flora's paints, and the creatures seem to know that she sometimes wishes to be rid of him, the encounters only strengthen Flora's resolve to bring Crispin home. "My mother wouldn't like it if I lost him," she says. Phelan's (The Storm in the Barn) rosy-cheeked Flora and dumplinglike Crispin float idyllically all the way to the moon. Yet the story contains the occasional whiff of menace ("If the wind lets you," each creature replies when Flora says she'll be taking him home). Never mind--the danger is no match for Flora. Ages 5-8. (Aug.)

Publishers Weekly

Gr 2—When Flora's younger brother spills her paints, their mother orders them both outside even though the autumn wind is strong and might blow them away. Luckily Flora wears her "super-special, heavy-duty red boots," but Crispin's purple boots are ordinary. When the triple-strength wind lifts him up into the air, Flora kicks off her boots and sails up in the sky to retrieve him. A dragonfly, a sparrow, a rainbow, an eagle, and a cloud all ask to keep Crispin, but she says, "He's my brother and I'm taking him home." Each one replies with the cryptic phrase, "If the wind lets you." The lonely man in the moon and the wind also ask for the child, but Flora is determined. Accepting her change of heart, the wind blows them down to earth. Birdsall's first picture book is a flight of fancy reconciling a sister to her innocently irritating little brother. Phelan uses ink, watercolor, and pastels for their airy adventure, tossing and tumbling them through a series of encounters that reveal Flora's changing feelings. This gem of a book will resonate with older siblings everywhere.—Mary Jean Smith, Southside Elementary School, Lebanon, TN

School Library Journal