Book post: Flora and Ulysses

Book cover from Candlewick Press

DiCamillo, K. (2013). Flora and Ulysses: The illuminated adventures. Somerville, MA: Candlewick Press.

 *Winner of the 2014 Newbery Medal*

 “Holy unanticipated occurrences!” A book about a girl and a superhero squirrel? Flora embraces the accusation that she is a “natural born cynic,” but when she sees a squirrel being vacuumed up outside her window, she rushes to save him. They become the best of friends as he learns about words and poetry, and she learns what love entails. This book is presented in both words and pictures, with quirky characters that always have something out of the ordinary to say. I must say I wanted more squirrel in the book, because Ulysses was adorable, smart, and entertaining. Flora and Ulysses would be a great book to use in the classroom to show the difference between necessary illustrations (when a whole chapter is in pictures) and supplementary illustrations. It would be fun to add illustrations to parts where there are none, as well as write out chapters that are presented only in pictures now, to try out DiCamillo’s fun writing style.