A talented illustrator and gracious collaborator, Molly Idle was open to my suggestion that we grant a name to the little girl in her story about a precocious young girl and the flamingo she befriends. The working title for the wordless book had previously been Flamingo Dancing.
In naming the main character Flora (in accordance with her floral-splotched swim cap), and then book Flora and the Flamingo, the young girl gains presence, an identity, and agency. Flora became a best-selling, character-driven franchise for Chronicle Books and was the publisher’s first Caldecott Honor Book.