Friday 8 May 2020

ReadItDaddy's Picture Book of the Week - Week Ending 8th May 2020: "The Big Book of Blooms" by Yuval Zommer (Thames and Hudson)

Spring might not be our favourite season, but if there's one talented chap who can bring forth what an amazing array of gorgeous plants and flowers we can expect to see sprouting all around us as Spring continues, it's Yuval Zommer.

In our Picture Book of the Week this week, "The Big Book of Blooms", Yuval's glorious colourful page spreads and brilliantly written descriptions show off the world's most amazing flowers and plants at their very best, in his own superb style.

This is a lovely book to sprawl on your favourite patch of sun-kissed grass with, not just showing off flowers that are renowned for their beauty, but also describing some of the more interesting (and in some cases REALLY stinky!) plants that we share a planet with.

There are flowers designed to tempt in pollinators, as hard working bees flit from one to the next.

There are pitcher plants, large strangely alien plants that trap flies and slowly digest them (ew!)

There are even gigantic flowers that really pong terribly!

Let's take a look inside at some of the page spreads in this truly wonderful book:

Cherry Blossoms in China and Japan, the most amazing springtime spectacle
Each page spread mixes gorgeous painterly artwork with immersive descriptions of the plants depicted.

Prickly customers indeed. Fabulous cactii!
The book takes us through the seasons, and plants that thrive in amazingly diverse climates and locales across our planet, from the deepest forests, and even in the deserts and snow.

Insects, animals and birds all do their bit as pollinators, keeping our plant life thriving
Sum this book up in a sentence: If you're lucky enough to live near Kew Gardens, or any of the other amazing botanic gardens across the country, or perhaps even live where these plants grow natively, this is a fabulous book to show you our beautiful plant life at its best and another non-fiction winner from Yuval!

"The Big Book of Blooms" by Yuval Zommer is out now, published by Thames and Hudson (kindly supplied for review).