posted on 15 Sep 2024

The Language of Flowers by Shyala Smith, illustrated by Aaron Asis

Ever since human beings started creating images and setting down their ideas in writing, flowers have been used not just to decorate their artworks but to add meaning to them. Over time imbuing specific flowers with emotional meanings has given different blooms social status and meanings that can be used as a way of making some of our more difficult abstract emotions easier to convey to others.

These conventions are, as Shyala Smith calls them, The Language of Flowers. It’s a language that Juhi has learned by spending time in her flower shop where she discovers the rich and complex life of her community through the flowers they give and receive – the language of love (a single lily, a spray of irises, a jasmine garland), the language of faith (frangipani, lotus, red hibiscus) and the language of celebration (daffodils, dahlias and peonies).

But sometimes Juhi’s shop has a special customer – one who loves flowers and life in equal measure – and old Mr Potter is just such a customer:

“Every Wednesday, her favourite neighbour stops by.

Tin-aling-a-ling. Mr Potter has a special ring.

He laughs a lot, jokes a lot, and tells a lot of stories from long ago.”

When on one Wednesday it’s Mr Potter’s wife that comes to the shop, Juhi discovers that the old man is in hospital – so she puts together a very special spray of butterfly orchids for him.

The weeks pass by and there’s no visit from old Mr Potter and Juhi learns that it’s bad news because her favourite customer has died. So, the young girl has to learn a new language of the flowers – the language of grief.

While the shop puts together the traditional bouquet of white flowers, Juhi makes her own special collation because Mr Potter deserves something out of the ordinary.

You can find out what she chooses when you buy your own copy of this beautifully and lavishly illustrated book. Aaron Asis’s flamboyant paintings with big generous brushstrokes are filled with colour and light – with lots of white space to make the colours really pop. 

Available from Lantana Publishing, you can get a copy from your local independent bookshop – who will, of course, be happy to order you a copy if they don’t have it on their shelves.

 

Terry Potter

September 2024