Footpath flowers by Jon Arno Lawson and Sydney Smith

“Basically, I was walking with my daughter down an ugly street, Bathurst Street, in Toronto, not paying very close attention, when I noticed she was collecting little flowers along the way . . . What struck me was how unconscious the whole thing was. She wasn’t doing it for praise, she was just doing it.” Jon Arno Lawson  Horn Book 

This is a very important book and you may be surprised to discover it contains no words.  It does, however, contain a very powerful story which the School Library Journal reviewer Elizabeth Bird describes as a poem.

I am presenting two covers for this book because strangely in Australia and UK this book was changed to Footpath Flowers from the original Canadian title Sidewalk Flowers.

I recommend you set aside some quiet time to just sit and slowly turn the pages of this book.
One truly special thing you need to know comes from IBBY Canada who give this book to Syrian refugee children when they arrive in their new country - a perfect gift.

Here is a set of teaching notes.  We have a large collection of silent or wordless or textless books in our school library.  Take a look at this Pinterest collection.  Read this review where you can see many of the illustrations.  This trailer comes from the publisher Walker Books.

Bracketed by beautiful endpapers, this ode to 

everyday beauty sings sweetly. Kirkus