The Boy Who Grew Flowers

Rink Bowagon’s family is strange. They are made up of shape shifters, snake tamers and himself, a boy that grows flowers out of his skin ever Sunday like clockwork. Rink is an outcast at school, but he becomes enamored with the new girl, like all the other boys in his class. She keeps turning

Show More

down invitations to a dance down because one of her legs is shorter than the other, making dancing difficult. Instead of giving up, Rink decides to woo her and makes a special pair of shoes to compensate for her uneven legs. The story shows how using your abilities, no matter how weird, to help others will set you apart from the crowd. The text alternates between long and short sentences with some advanced vocabulary and has a good cadence for being read aloud. The illustrations are whimsical acrylic paintings with detailed faces to delve into the emotions of the characters. The one fault of the book is the cheesy ending, which shoves twenty five years and seven children into one page, creating a forced and awkward ending. The romantics at heart in early elementary school will love this charming picture book. Recommended.

Show Less

Kind of an entertaining sort of Ozark fantasy folktale. Although I normally abjure the meet-as-kids, marry-as-adults plots, this one was sweet.

Rink Bowagon and his unusual family are considered a strange "hotbed of exotic talents." Uncle Dud tames rattlesnakes, Rink's brothers are shape-shifters and Rink himself sprouts flowers out of his head during a full moon. (His mother cuts them off in the morning before school.) Rink keeps to

Show More

himself at school and his classmates avoid him. Then Angelina is new to the school and Rink likes her right away but doesn't approach initially. Angelina is intrigued as well but the kids warn her to stay away from Rink. With the approach of a school dance, Rink decides to make a special pair of shoes for Angelina so she can dance properly with her shortened leg. She's delighted by the gesture and they attend the dance together. At the end of the evening, Rink reveals his secret of the flowers during a full moon. Angelina has a secret of her own: the flower she always wears in her hair grows from behind her ear.

Show Less

Rink s grandmother was raised by wolves, his Uncle Dud tames rattlesnakes, and Rink grows beautiful flowers all over his body when the moon is full. Townspeople just don t understand the Bowagons. But one day a new girl named Angelica arrives at Rink s school, and he soon discovers she has some

Show More

unique qualities too. Using humor and metaphor to promote acceptance, this touching story shows us that what makes us different makes us beautiful.

Show Less

If I won the lottery I would buy this book for every person I know. I would give one to every school classroom in the land. I would put them in doctors' offices and business offices. I would put them in libraries and gyms. This story reached into my soul and hugged my heart until I shed tears of

Show More

joy. This is one story I'll be happy to read over and over again!

Show Less

Kind of an entertaining sort of Ozark fantasy folktale. Although I normally abjure the meet-as-kids, marry-as-adults plots, this one was sweet.

A beautiful book and tale!