The Magic Flower
Aspen and Spruce find a strange plant in the corner of the greenhouse. The children water the plant and re-pot it. They do everything they can to make the tender seedling grow. They read poems to it, take it for a bike ride and a trip to the seaside. Regardless of their efforts, the plant remains small. But in the garden, a different kind of sprout begins to grow. What is this plant’s secret?
Illustrated with the most delicious gouache paintings by the ALMA-nominated Marika Maijala, The Magic Flower is a gentle philosophical story that ponders how important it is to let everyone grow in their own way.
Marika Maijala is a celebrated creator who has been awarded various awards, most recently the Illustrator of the Year 2024. She has illustrated several picture books and written three of her own including The Magic Flower (Taikurin kukka) which was among the Most Beautiful Books of Finland (2023), 100 Outstanding Picture Books (2023) and one of the winners of the 58th Illustrators Exhibition. In 2025 Maijala was among the nominees for the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award.
Publishing information
Rights sold
- France
- Italy
- China
- The Republic of Korea
- English Worldwide
Awards & nominations
Awards
2024
58th Illustrators Exhibition, Winners
2023
100 Outstanding Picture Books
2022
The Most Beautiful Books of Finland
Reviews
“The illustrations and colour scheme of The Magic Flower plunge the reader into a unique place and time. The large size is like a door to a magician’s world. The sweet characters are brought to life with the casual gouache brushstrokes. The material of the cover feels as warm as its colour scheme. The yellow endpapers and the second set of illustrated endpapers that follow them surprise and amaze.”