Roses Are Blue by Sally Murphy and Illustrated by Gabriel Evans

Roses Are Blue
Written by Sally Murphy, Illustrated by Gabriel Evans
Children's, Poetry, Diversity
Published July 1st 2014
112 Pages
With thanks to Walker Books Australia
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★★★★★
I have not got used to my new mum, even though I love her, I absolutely love her but I miss my happy, painting, dancing, gardening, smiling mum.
Amber Rose and her family are dealing with tragedy and change. But sometimes hope suddenly blooms...

From the award winning author of Pearl Verses the World and Toppling comes a story about resilience and the importance of family.
Amber Rose can still remember what life was like before her mum's accident, when days were spend tending to her flowers, painting, singing and Amber was simply know as her Yellow Rose. With baby brother Jack, her car collided with a truck and although Jack was saved by his infant car seat, Amber's mum has been left with a brain injury and can no longer walk, talk or even sing. So when her classroom is hosting a Mother's Day High Tea, Amber worries that her friends and peers won't understand why her mum isn't like all the others.

After the accident, Amber's family sold their home and moved into a house where now Aunty Fi helps to take care of Amber and Jack. So when Amber asks Aunty Fi to come to the Mother's Day High Tea, she assumed it would be to assist Amber's mum. Amber is scared that the other kids will either be frightened or tease her mother, and Amber as well. But Amber loves her mum, and who said all mum's need to be the same?

Roses Are Blue was not only a beautiful children's story about acceptance, but it promotes diversity and the message of family and unconditional love. The storyline follows Amber, who is still learning to cope with her mother's accident. She's a bright young girl who loves her mother dearly, but after an incident at a supermarket, now worries how other children will react to her wheelchair bound mum. It isn't long before Amber starts to see glimpses of her mother before the accident, the sparkle in her eyes returning and attempting to sing along with the song she sang to Amber as a child, who Amber now sings to baby Jack. It's incredibly touching and through adversity, Amber finds hope that her mother will return to her again one day.

The illustrations sprinkled throughout are simply beautiful, they accompany the poetic style verse with a whimsical magic, and will give children a point of reference when discussion Amber's mum's condition, her friends and even baby Jack. When the Mother's Day High Tea finally arrives, the illustrations show the diversity between the mum's attending, of a different ethnicity, different careers or even an eclectic personal sense of style.

I simply adored it.

9 comments

  1. Awww, this sounds so endearing. It looks like it too, with the cover and the colors looking so fresh, subtle, and just plain beautiful. I seriously love the art and the color scheme - so pleasant to the eyes, and it definitely gives that light-hearted feeling of positivity. The content looks like it, too. I love it when children books are like this - about acceptance, unconditional love, and family. There can never be enough books about those!

    Faye at The Social Potato

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    1. My thoughts exactly Faye. It was adorably sweet as well, I forgot how enchanting children's books could be.

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  2. The way you reviewed it made me want to read this book. Sigh. I love family books, I just am a sucker for close family tie and the unconditional love that you mention will probably melt my heart and touch my soul if ever I got the chance to read this! Fantastic review, Kelly! :D

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    1. It's a lovely ready Abby, so precious and made my weekend.

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  3. Roses are blue,
    violets are red,
    this review was epic
    and so are you.

    BAM WHAT! I just wrote a poem! (Haha...that was probably the most ridiculous poem ever, but hey!) Anyway...this actually sounds really good! I love the sound of the writing and the illustrations sound just adorable. And yeah for diversity! I might pass this on for my younger sister to read. :) Thanks for sharing Kelly, and, as always, BRILLIANT review! <3

    ~ Zoe @ The Infinite To-Read Shelf

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    1. Your talent knows no bounds Zoe. Loved it.
      I'll be posting a few of the illustrations on Saturday with Sally's interview. This is a brilliant book for kids eight onwards, the diversity and strong moral message were delivered beautifully.

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  4. THIS SOUNDS CUTE. Although I'm twitching because roses are red dang it. Obviously Alice in Wonderland got to them with a bucket of paint. <--- SEE I AM MAKNG SPLINTERED REFERENCES, AREN'T YOU PROUD OF ME?

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    1. The only one this one would have been more charming, as if you threw in an eccentric moth. Being at that age, I'm starting to take a keen interest in growing my children's book collection for my own kids, which I'm hoping the stalk will drop off soon.

      Wait, what?

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  5. This sounds like it would be a beautiful read. Probably heart-breaking, but Amber seems like a wonderful character who goes on despite what happened to her mother and who even takes care of the baby too. I know this is a Children's book, but I feel like I'd love to read it too.

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