Bloom!: A Little Book about Finding Love

Even kids too young to read the simple text will delight in reading Bloom's eloquent facial expressions and body language -- especially the tantrum this piggie throws after being abandoned by a flighty love. Adults will identify with Bloom's experience: the devoted suitor in the mud puddle comes to mean more than the flashier yet fickle fellow who initially catches Bloom's eye. This life-lesson is deftly delivered by van Lieshout's nimble pen and her sparing use of color washes to express the extremes of Bloom's passions. BLOOM is a pithy operetta in picture-book form. BRAVO! I hope this little diva returns for an encore!

Bloom is one of my new favorites! I fell instantly in love with Bloom's character. She is someone we can all relate to, as each of us has fallen in love with something in our lives. Children have fallen in love with moments in time, or pets, or their favorite snack and adults with all of the above and more! Maria has done such a lovely job with her lite drawing lines and splotches of color. The design by Molly Leach compliments everything Maria has created. There is such life and animation in little Bloom. I want to know what she does next..... Will she find a bigger flower to love? I am sure we can all relate to her young feelings of love. I know both children and adults will fall in love with Bloom. I did.... and I am not quite as fickle as Bloom.

What fun. A delightful book about friendship and love. A perfect present for kids or adults any time of year, especially Valentines Day. The wonderful illustrations capture Bloom's changing emotions with whimsy and heart. Infatuation, love, frustration, anger. And a satisfying ending the reader can really sink into.

Bloom! is one of those rare children's books that works on so many levels that adults are bound to love it, too. Maria van Lieshout has created an adorable and enduring character in Bloom, the little pig who doesn't see love when it is right in front of her snout. Children will love this book for the simple, elegant art work and will identify with the raw emotions the main character experiences when she wants something just out of her reach. Adults will love it for the universal nature of its theme (after all, do we ever stop looking for love in all the wrong places?) and its perfect resolution of this porcine romance. Bloom is a perfect gift for the child you love or the love of your life. (And a clever alternative to chocolates on Valentine's Day.) It's dangerous to predict what book will become a classic, but this just might be one!

Love this little book with the beautiful drawings - makes a great gift for children AND adults!