This article was authored by Publisher Spotlight intern Shanti Liu
My parents immigrated to the United States from Fuzhou, Fujian, China. From then on, my mom and dad felt that very little truly belonged to them. The food they ate was unfamiliar, the houses they lived in were temporary, and the country they built their lives in never completely felt like their home.
But we found different ways to create a sense of belonging. Around the time that I finished elementary school for the summer, my parents and I took up gardening as a hobby. I bought morning glory seeds with my mom and potted them in thick, rich soil in our backyard with my dad.
In a way, I think we wanted to make something our own—to plant our own roots in an unfamiliar place. Planting flowers can hold so much meaning. Both in life and literature, flowers can serve to express feelings that we cannot speak aloud. These two picture books use flowers as a powerful theme to explore how we carry love, loss, and belonging with us.
MY AMERICA BLOOMS, written by Nazanin Agange Ford and illustrated by Fateme Mokhles, published by Beaming Books, is about a young girl who immigrates to America from Tehran, Iran. She brings a pocket of golnar [pomegranate] petals from her precious garden to plant near her new home. This is a hopeful story about an immigrant experience through the eyes of a child, perfect for kids ages 5 to 8.
Lantana Publishing’s THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS, written by Shyala Smith and illustrated by Aaron Paul Asis, follows Juhi and her love of flowers. She loves to help her father in the flower shop, but one day, she finds out that her favorite customer has passed away. To make something special to remember him by, Juhi and her father create bouquets for the funeral to honor his memory. Wanting her arrangement to be especially meaningful, Juhi draws on her knowledge of the language of flowers. This heartwarming story explores themes of grief and love for kids ages 4 to 8.
From planting seeds in unfamiliar soil to creating bouquets in the memory of a loved one, flowers and their roots can become symbols of love and belonging. By exploring these stories, children can celebrate and honor their own roots, and the people and places that shape who they are.
My parents will always think of China as their home. They will always be rooted in their past, but that does not mean that they cannot grow new roots here. My parents have learned to bloom wherever they are planted—like our morning glories—carrying all their strength with them as their roots reach towards something new.
Morning glories are trumpet-shaped and vibrant flowers that grow very quickly. They get their name from their buds that bloom every morning and close by midday. To learn how to grow them yourself, check out this Step-by-Step Morning Glory Gardening Guide offered by Garden Design.
