about the book
Walking home from the grocery store, a young girl is fascinated by the busy world around her. Her father, on the other hand, is having a long conversation on his cell phone and doesn’t notice much of anything.
Then the girl sees some dandelions growing out of a crack in the sidewalk.
Picking the colorful flowers, she decides to collect all of the sidewalk flowers she can find. With her bright bouquet growing, the girl starts giving the flowers away.
How will these gifts touch people’s lives?
about the author
JonArno Lawson is a Canadian poet who writes for both children and adults. When he was eight, he missed almost a whole year of school because he was in Florida digging holes at the beach, collecting sea shells, and riding in glass-bottomed boats. These months were the most formative experiences he had while growing up. Thankfully, JonArno wasn’t forced to repeat the school year.
The first real poem he wrote was for his high school girlfriend, Amy. She married him the same year it was finally published. Together, JonArno and Amy have three children.
Sidewalk Flowers was inspired by a walk he took with his daughter Sophie. His youngest son was two days old, and JonArno just wanted to get home, but he and his daughter couldn’t get a cab so they had to walk an hour. JonArno was rushing, not seeing the world around him. Then he noticed Sophie was gathering flowers while singing. When they finally got home, Sophie decorated the baby’s hat, gave flower to both her mom and little brother, and went off to do something else. JonArno wanted to capture the beauty of that walk for everyone.
JonArno lives with his family in Toronto, Ontario, in Canada.
Sources:
Author biography: Walker
Author interview: The Horn Book
Author interview: Groundwood Books
Author interview: Smart Books for Smart Kids
Book trailer: Sidewalk Flowers
Also by JonArno Lawson:
Old MacDonald Had Her Farm. Annick Press. 2012.
about the illustrator
Born in rural Nova Scotia in Canada, Sydney Smith has been drawing since an early age. He attended NSCAD University in Halifax for drawing and printmaking. During a printmaking class his first year, he realized that he wanted to illustrate children’s books. To make this happen, Sydney slowly developed a portfolio and sent it to Nimbus Publishing, and later Groundwood Books.
The rest is history! He’s now illustrated a number of children’s books, including Sidewalk Flowers, a wordless picture book that takes place in Toronto in Ontario, Canada. He had so much creative freedom on this title that it was unlike any other publishing experience he’s had.
Around the time he began working on Sidewalk Flowers, he moved to Toronto. He’d tried to move there nine years before, but after a bad case of poison ivy on a low-paying temp job, Sydney quickly returned to Halifax. This time, the move was a success.
Sydney works out of a shared studio in Toronto’s Chinatown.
Sources:
Illustrator interview: Groundwood Books
Illustrator interview: Quill & Quire
Illustrator interview: Smart Books for Smart Kids
Illustrator video on his process: Globe and Mail
Also by Sydney Smith:
The White Cat and the Monk : A Retelling of the Poem Pangu Ban by Jo Ellen Bogart. Groundwood Books. 2016.
Grant and Tillie Go Walking by Monica Kulling. Groundwood Books. 2015.
Music Is for Everyone by Jill Barber. Nimbus Publishing. 2014.
There Were Monkeys in My Kitchen by Sheree Fitch. Nimbus Publishing. 2014.
Toes in My Nose : And Other Poems by Sheree Fitch. Nimbus Publishing. 2014.
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