September Roses

Publishers Weekly

Winter's spare, understated narrative and deceptively simple illustrations belie the intense emotional impact of this handsize volume. The author's introductory note puts the story in a personal context: "At 8:50 a.m. on September 11, 2001, I looked up from my drawing table and saw in the distance an enormous plume of smoke rising high above and beyond the Empire State Building." Several days later, she explains, she went to Manhattan's Union Square "to be closer to the communal outpouring of anguish in the city," and makes reference to the roses she saw there. The book itself tells the story of how these roses came to be in Union Square Park. A series of vignettes portrays two South African sisters who grow roses; the blossoms seem to engulf their cozy home and overtake their dreams. "Every night the sisters worked on designs for their rose display at the flower show, far away in New York City." A full spread depicts their plane approaching Manhattan, just as two others in the lower right hand corner are about to collide with the Twin Towers. The women arrive in New York on the morning of September 11, along with the 2,400 flowers they had planned to exhibit. Black-and-white spreads convey news of the tragedy and the chaos at the airport where they are now stranded. A kind stranger offers the sisters shelter; in return, the women offer him their roses. The man takes the sisters to Union Square, where the only color in the scene comes from the candles lit to honor the dead. In small square panels, Winters shows the florists adding roses, one by one, until a full-spread composition reveals the women's arrangement of brilliantly hued blossoms into the shape of the fallen buildings. Winter's effective use of color underscores the sense that simple acts of kindness can bring a ray of light to even the darkest day. Her sensitive portrayal, tinged with hope, makes this one of the most effective books-alongside Mordicai Gerstein's The Man Who Walked Between the Towers-with which to approach youngsters concerning this complex event. Ages 7-up. (Sept.) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Children's Literature

This is a small, gentle book with a cryptic title until you look closely at the cover, where the illustration includes the New York skyline with the World Trade Center towers. It is the true story of two sisters who grew roses in South Africa. They boxed all their roses and flew to the United States for a huge flower show in New York City—only to arrive on September 11, 2001. All the bright colors of their roses and their native costumes suddenly turn to black and gray and white. They are stranded at the airport. "There were tears enough to fill an ocean." A friendly man offers them a place to stay and a place for their roses—Union Square, where New Yorkers have gathered for a candlelight vigil. At first the candles are the only bright spot on the page. Then the sisters arrange their roses in the shape of the twin towers, a bright expanse in the midst of the gray sadness. "My tears fell on the roses." The author adds a few details of authenticity in her note at the end. This is a lovely story of kindness and positive action in the midst of tragedy. The simplicity of its telling, in word and picture, is instructive for older students yet easy to grasp for much younger children. 2004, Frances Foster Books, Ages 6 up.
—Karen Leggett

School Library Journal

K-Gr 3-Based on a factual anecdote, this book recounts the story of two sisters from South Africa who are stranded in New York in the aftermath of September 11. The women, who are flying with 2400 roses for a flower show, land right after the Twin Towers are hit. A stranger offers them a place to stay. Wanting to repay this kindness, they take their flowers to Union Square and arrange them in the shape of the fallen towers amid the many other memorials. The pen-and-ink illustrations begin in color but dramatically turn to black and white when the events of 9/11 take over. Color gently returns through the appearance of the rose and candle memorials. The spare and poetic text, small-sized format, and simple drawings give these painful days a direct and personal resonance. Because of the script font and the format, this book works best one-on-one rather than for beginning readers or group sharing. While this story will not explain what happened on 9/11 to children too young to remember it, Winter's offering captures the intensity of emotion that was felt that day and the healing human connections that soon followed.-Rachel G. Payne, Brooklyn Public Library, NY Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

Among the many memorials to 9/11, this small, spare narrative, spun from a true encounter, stands out for the power of its simple words and images. In a hand-written text paired to simply drawn art that moves from clear, lively color to ashy grays and back, Winter recalls coming upon thousands of fresh roses laid out in the shape of the Twin Towers in New York's Union Square Park, a few days after the tragedy. She heard that they had been placed there by two stranded commercial florists from South Africa. Recreating the two women's journey and experiences (and filling in specifics in an afterword), she closes with an artist's eye view of her own feet standing at the roses' edge, and a heartbreaking final line. Winter doesn't shy away from depicting the destruction, but it's the sense of shock and loss in the aftermath, of shared grief and compassion, that comes through most strongly and makes the tale so inexpressibly moving. (Picture book. 7+)