Tashi and the Tibetan Flower Cure

When Tashi's elderly Tibetan grandfather, Popola, falls ill, Tashi suggests they try the flower cure she's heard him talk about. In Tibet, he says, sick people sit among flowers with their friends in the hope that the pollen will heal them. With the help of a friendly nurseryman and Tashi's energetic encouragement, Popola pays a weekly visit to a nursery, becomes a minor celebrity among the nursery's customers, and recovers in a way that doesn't seem too farfetched. Rose (Tibetan Tales from the Top of the World) focuses on Tashi and her anxiety (when her mother drives Popola to the doctor, "My fingers fiddle with a loose button on my shirt while I wait"; when they return, "My heart races a hundred times faster than my legs as I run toward them"). The softly brushed paintings have a naive, self-tutored look, but suit the text's homespun tone. The story, outwardly realistic, turns on two charming ideas: that of a child using ancient wisdom to restore the health of a relative, and that of a sterile American suburb becoming as close-knit as a Tibetan village. Ages 6-11. (Sept.)

Gr 1-4--Tashi is very close to her grandfather, who has been ill for two weeks. Popola seems sad and lonely for his village in Tibet and tells Tashi about how sick people would sit downwind from flowers so that pollen would blow over them and bring healing. Determined to make the flower cure work, Tashi first tries blowing daisies over him while he sleeps, and then visits a nursery. Popola insists that the flower cure won't work in the U.S., "without the magic of our land and people," but slowly a community builds around the family as they visit the nursery and Popola improves both in health and spirit. With a blend of detail and expressionism, the rich, jewel-toned paintings do a wonderful job of supplementing the text. The emotions Tashi feels-hope, discouragement, worry, and joy-are shown not just on her face but through her whole body as well. This heartwarming story is full of details and images that show what life might be like for a Tibetan-American child. Any second- or third-generation immigrant family will relate to the blending of two cultures, and all readers will relate to Tashi's concern, fear, and desire to help.--Anna Haase Krueger, Antigo Public Library, WI