Flower Girls: A Story of Sisters

Young Daisy, the narrator of this story by sisters and previous collaborators Weitzman and Glasser (Gloria’s Promise), loves to admire older siblings Lily and Poppy from “my spot” in the family’s yard. “They can do anything. I love to watch them,” Daisy enthuses, as the older girls move with acrobatic confidence around the expansive, lushly detailed garden, where blossoms flourish in every corner. Exacting Lily and freewheeling Poppy already have their own patches to cultivate, where their distinct personalities are evident. It’s finally time for Daisy to get a patch of her own—one that can be “just the way I want it to be.” But Daisy’s very different sisters share a similarly strong will, and the littlest sibling is soon overwhelmed by an insistent, exhausting stream of instructions and ideas. It takes a reality check to get the older girls to stop quarreling and help create the garden that Daisy wants—doing so “the Daisy way.” Readers in any family dynamic will empathize with Daisy’s realization that self-assertion can be a first step toward blossoming into whomever one is becoming. Characters are portrayed with pale skin. Ages 4–8. (May)