Flora and the Flamingo by Molly Idle

I fell in love with Flora and the Flamingo after watching the adorable book trailer that was made for this book.



It sat on my "to-purchase" list for a while, but we received a wonderful gift card in the mail for my daughter's birthday, and this book was the first book I purchased.

Flora and the Flamingo
By Molly Idle
Age Range: 4 - 6 years
Grade Level: Preschool - 1 
Hardcover: 44 pages
Publisher: Chronicle Books; Ltf edition (February 5, 2013)
Language: English 
ISBN-10: 1452110069 
ISBN-13: 978-1452110066






The beauty of Flora and the Flamingo is that it is a wordless picture book, which leaves the pages open to the imagination of both children and parents alike. The story plays out where a little girl,wearing huge flippers and a pink bathing suit, wants desperately to dance like the flamingo. She mirrors the flamingo's movements, but she find herself tumbling and falling. A hurt and embarrassed little girl is comforted by the coy bird, who then shows her some simple ballet moves. Before long, the two are dancing together, ending their dance with an epic cannonball into the water.

Illustrations by Molly Idle

I should start by saying that I LOVE wordless picture books, and I understand that many parents shy away from books that do not contain words to guide the story. However, I implore you to give books without words a try. This book was made for our house, which is overrunning with pink ballet slippers. My two girls giggled during the first read of the book, instinctively getting up and dancing around the room. I had to laugh at how my oldest started humming Habanera from the opera Carmen. Who knows where she heard it, probably from Looney Tunes, but the girls danced around, having a grand old time.

The next day, my girls were so in love with the book, they had to take it outside for book inspired play.

  It was so much fun to watch them mimic the poses on each page of the book.

Illustration by Molly Idle

In fact, since we have been doing yoga, my oldest turned each of the poses in the book into a yoga inspired routine.

Illustration by Molly Idle

This book is beautifully illustrated, and I cannot express how talented Molly Idle is as a storyteller. The characters effortlessly express emotions, tell a story, and grow a friendship without having to ever say a single word. This book is pure joy, and if there are little girls will ballet slippers in your house, I would recommend adding this book to your library.

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