The Rare, Tiny Flower: (Picture Books about Peace, Kindness Kids Books)

* 2022 NYC BIG BOOK AWARD WINNER * 2022 WORLD ILLUSTRATION AWARDS SHORTLIST

"Kitty O'Meara's The Rare, Tiny Flower, illustrated by Quim Torres, relies on metaphor to introduce children to the often trivial reasons for war." --The New York Times

"Kitty O'Meara is the poet laureate of the pandemic"--The Observer

"The Rare Tiny Flower speaks to both adults and children." -10thirtysix, Milwaukee PBS

This timely and timeless tale by Kitty O'Meara, like her best-selling book about the pandemic, And the People Stayed Home, offers wisdom relevant to difficult current situations and provides hope for resolution and growth.

The Rare, Tiny Flower is a beautifully produced picture book that explores themes of difference, divisiveness, tolerance, and unity as well as the agency of children through a thoughtful parable told in rhyming verse and accompanied by deeply felt illustrations.

This rhyming poem features a mysterious flower in the midst of a forest that appears as a different color to each viewer, which leads to escalating strife as everyone insists that their vision is "right." World leaders and even botanists are unable to agree on the nature of the flower, and declare war as a way to resolve the conflict. It takes the vision and bravery of a young girl to point out that the flower is, in fact, quite multi-dimensional. Remarkably, she has the ability to be heard by the squabbling masses, who then see beyond their fighting and begin to rebuild bridges of communication and commit to connecting with one another and respecting varying points of view.

Kitty O'Meara's thoughtful poem includes people realizing and voicing this important lesson:

"Maybe there are
other colors to see;
what's lovely to you
could be lovely to me."

O'Meara is the author of a bestselling book about the pandemic, And the People Stayed Home, based on her poem that went viral. The Rare, Tiny Flower also speaks to current world events as well as truths about human nature. O'Meara's wise words are paired with evocative illustrations by Quim Torres.

Author: Kitty O'Meara
Publisher: Tra Publishing
Published: 06/28/2022
Pages: 40
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.15lbs
Size: 12.10h x 9.30w x 0.40d
ISBN: 9781734761825
Audience: Ages 4-8

About the Author
Kitty O'Meara lives near Madison, Wisconsin, with her husband, Phillip Hagedorn, their five rescue dogs, three cats, gardens, and books. Formerly a middle school writing and literature teacher and hospital and hospice chaplain, she is currently a spiritual director and has been a lifelong writer and artist. She has been called "the poet laureate of the pandemic" based on her wildly popular, widely circulated, and hopeful poem about the Covid-19 pandemic. That poem is illustrated and presented in book form in And the People Stayed Home, her first print book, published by Tra Publishing. The Rare, Tiny Flower will be her second published print book.

Quim Torres is an award-winning illustrator and author based in Barcelona. He has illustrated several children's books, including the recent titles La noche más noche, Alera i Perot, How Grandpa Disappeared, Quel mari pour Jolie souris?, Contes et légendes d'Espagne, and Tant de gust senyor Calders, and he is the author of the middle grade novel Constel-lacions. He has studied art therapy and Gestalt psychology, and he teaches workshops in which drawing becomes a means of self-discovery.