Oscar’s Tower of Flowers – Lauren Tobia, Candlewick Press, 9781536217773, 2021
Format: Hardcover book
Rating: 1-5 (5 is an excellent or a Starred review) 5
Genre: Picture book
What did you like about the book? A book with no words but with so much to say! Someone in Oscar’s life is going away. Oscar is sad but instead of remaining sad he finds something to pour all of his emotions into. I love how the book has no words so you can make up the person’s relationship to Oscar. It could be his mom, his nana, his aunt, his nanny, let your child’s imagination fill in the gaps with this story! Oscar decides he is going to grow one, two, three, A ROOM FULL of plants and flowers and plants. Oscar realizes that instead of being sad he could refocus his attention on the plants but soon there are too many in the house. As a result he gives away his plants to other people he loves/cares about. Soon after all the plants are gone again his favorite person returns. This book is amazing because essentially I just made this entire storyline up because… there are no words! The pictures are so beautiful and they almost present themselves as a comic/graphic novel layout.
Anything you did not like about the book? Excellent book for any child entering the imaginative phase.
To whom would you recommend this book? This is perfect for two-year-old children because they are just diving into imaginative play and making up stories.
Who should buy this book? Pre-schools and elementary schools
Where would you shelve it? Picture Books
Should we (librarians) put this on the top of our “to read” piles? Yes!
Reviewer’s Name, Library (or school), City: Rose Metayer, Boston Latin School, Boston MA
Date of review: 06/17/2021
Youth Services Book Review 
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