Another Shout-Out to @ignotofsky's What's Inside a Flower & Other Questions About Science and Nature. The Seeds Are Planted

Illustration from What's Inside a Flower 

My undergraduate course on extending literacy in grades 3-5 is transitioning from fictional texts to non-fiction and soon they will be teaching non-fiction lessons with the 4th graders we partner with. I looked to my shelf for new arrivals from Penguin Random House and Crown Books, and pulled out What's Inside a Flower and Other Questions About Science and Nature by Rachel Ignotofsky. Actually, I went down a rabbit whole that introduced me to brilliant illustrations, poignant knowledge, pro-women discoveries, and beautiful, purporting wisdom (thanks Beers & Probst - it's now in my spoken vocabulary). I plan to transition from a poem, "Regimen," from Kwame's Becoming Muhammad Ali, and to highlight two points: (1) Like Cassius Clay, a writer like Rachel Ignotofsky is a warrior and champion and (b) flowers are part of a regimen, too - intelligently crafted in What's Inside a Flower? 

Last week, I wrote about a poem Ann E. Burg wrote for me and my colleague Susan James, but I didn't share a poem I wrote to Susan and Ann as a response. It seems pertinent to share here as the last lines comes from Ishy Wooley (named after Ishmael) who heard me complaining about the rain one day and gave me his beautiful wisdom. Of course, he said, "fwowers," instead of flowers...but I didn't think it worked as well in the poem (instead, it looked like a typo). 

Springing Forward

for Ann and Susan

Fat boys hate summer sun,

yet forgive it in winter, 

despite necessary squints

from the blinding light 

that ricochets across fields of snow…

a bright reminder 

there’s always Pandora’s hope.

In summer,

fat boys hate heat, 

especially on mile four

when humidity 

soaks the socks, shorts, & shirts,

leaving a Gulf Shore 

of sweat

under each 

armpit.

He welcomes gray clouds then, 

to bumper and stain raindrops 

& cold possibilities across his face.

“You can’t hate the rain,”

says a little boy

trampolining through the puddles.

“How else you gonna get the flowers?”

Rachel Ignotofsky details exactly how flowers are flowers, and I can't wait to work with my pre-service teachers and the kids today. She has crafted the PERFECT text. As many remarked yesterday on Twitter, this is a must have for every library and school. I actually think it belongs in every environmental science and biology classroom, too. 

Shoot. It's is a textbook for florists and botanists. 

It's simply a remarkable gift for readers of informational, non-fiction texts. Each and every illustration is a discussion on its own. I can't wait to dig in this morning with others. New life goal - to read more of this writer's craft!