#556 of 1001 · February 7, 2022

For children, found objects carry a distinct meaning, a subtle power that we all too often forget by the time we reach adulthood. Come and jog your memory with the wordless Sidewalk Flowers by JonArno Lawson and @sydneydraws. On the walk home from grocery shopping, a girl stops to pick flowers she notices growing here and there in little cracks and crevices of the urban environment. Eventually, she amasses a small, variegated bouquet. Though she enjoys her collection, she then begins leaving the flowers as gifts and offerings for those she passes: a dead bird, a man sleeping on a park bench, a dog on a leash, and finally her mother and younger siblings. The gentle, introspective story, conceived by Lawson, explores the meaning of childhood rituals and celebrates beauty for beauty’s sake. Smith’s art, created in pen and ink with watercolor and digitally edited, underscores these deeply humanistic themes with a color palette that begins in grayscale and slowly but surely introduces a breadth of soft, delicate hues. #sidewalk #flowers #flower #book #books #childrensbooks #beautifulbook #beautifulbooks #beautifulbookcover #beautifulbookcovers #picturebook #picturebooks #picturebookillustration #picturebookillustrations #picturebookart #classicchildrensbooks #childrensbookillustration #childrensliterature #illustration #kidlit #kidsbooks #bookworm #booklover #booklovers #bibliophile #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #bookstagrammers #instabook #instabooks