With its luxurious illustrations and subtle, Zen-like story, this book is a treasure. The tale takes place in a garden, where Lucy, the young narrator, is visiting her adult friend, Anna Zinnia. The plot is simple. Anna Zinnia introduces Lucy to the secret of how flowers are born; the two of them plant some seeds in pots and wait for them to sprout. There is a hint of tension in the narrative with the temporary deferral of satisfaction, as the seedlings take longer to appear than Lucy had expected. But appear they do, and the paradox of the secret is that its unfolding makes it all the more mysterious. It’s a secret for pondering, like a riddle or a koan.

This book is rooted in the romantic tradition of garden literature, only it’s low on melancholy and high on wish fulfillment. As in her last book, An Island in the Soup (winner of a 2001 Governor General’s Award), Quebec-based author and illustrator Mireille Levert shows us a preschool character exploring the unknown within the known, accompanied by an adult who thinks she’s the bee’s knees. At one point, Anna Zinnia calls Lucy a “flower among flowers, a wonder among wonders” – isn’t this kind of regard every child’s dream?

The spare narrative is complemented by richly coloured and detailed paintings (watercolour and gouache acrylic), and the overall effect is meditative and dreamlike. The story’s theme of interconnectedness is presented with a sly wink, as in the illustrations that show Lucy dressed as an insect, Anna Zinnia as a flower, and two cats with inscrutable faces, like those of sphinxes guarding ancient secrets.