Alison's Zinnia

Love this book but my copy came in terrible condition! The whole thing is bent and water damaged and most of the pages are ripped. Very disappointed!!

When my son fell in love with all things blooming, I began my search for a book about flowers. I had been searching for a book that featured several different flower types and their names, as well as color illustrations. I was so pleased when I found Alison's Zinnia! Not only are there beautiful color paintings of the different blooms, there is also a narrative that teaches the ABC's. A few of the flower types are difficult to pronounce (even for the adults out there!), and how many girls do we really know named Xantippa? Also, I was a little disappointed that all the names featured in the book were little girls. I would have liked to see some boys thrown in the mix. Especially since I bought his book for my son. But I still think that the book is a priceless addition to our family library.

My 4 year old daughter and I found this book light-hearted and enchanting. The illustrations are beautiful. The book flows smoothly from start to finish making it a very pleasurable read for both parent and child. My daughter brings this book to me on a daily basis and we have read it over and over again. Delightful!

Anita Lobel's Alison's Zinnia is a unique alphabet book using a circular tale to lead the reader from A to Z. Each page has one line which begins with a girl's name and a flower for that particular letter and ends with a girl's name for the next letter, "Heather hosed a Hyacinth for Irene". The split page illustrations show a large detailed painting of the flower on top and the story line with the alphabet letter below the text. I believe children will enjoy the challenge of the unusual names and the flowers portrayed in the picture book. In the classroom it would be a great children's literature rewrite. The students could use, for example, boys names and vegetables to create their own classroom version. Another example of her beautiful art work and her ability to capture the details of a flower are in The Rose in my Garden by Arnold and Anita Lobel.