The Rare, Tiny Flower

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The poem features a mysterious flower that looks different to each viewer, which leads to strife as everyone insists that their vision is “right.” Leaders and even botanists are unable to agree on the nature of the flower—it takes a young girl to point out that the flower is, in fact, quite multidimensional. Remarkably, she has the ability to be heard by the squabbling masses, who then see beyond their fighting and commit to connecting with one another. 

O’Meara’s thoughtful poem begins with these words:

Once, in a forest,
a bird dropped a seed.
It wasn’t a sapling,
it wasn’t a weed,
but a rare, tiny flower
that found light and grew.
To some it looked red,
to some it looked blue. 

Awards:

*2022 NYC Big Book Award Winner in Children's Inspirational

*2022 World Illustration Awards Shortlist

Praise:

"Kitty O'Meara's The Rare, Tiny Flower, illustrated by Quim Torres, relies on metaphor to introduce children to the often trivial reasons for war." —The New York Times

“Kitty O'Meara is the poet laureate of the pandemic”—The Observer

“The Rare Tiny Flower was created to speak about our need to listen to each other more, respect others' opinions and just be better humans. The book speaks to both adults and children.” –10thirtysix, Milwaukee PBS