It is the eve of the flower ball, the vegetable bunch is not included. Nevertheless, bravely cauliflower and carrot vow to attend. Each group wary of the other, When the two intruders began to dance, they swayed throughout the flower. Gaining the attention of the flowers, one by one, they bravely asked the veggies to dance. I loved the illustrations in this book. I'll keep this one and not give it away. ( )

When Cauliflower and Carrot decide to leave the Vegetable Bunch, and attend the Flower Ball instead, there is consternation in both camps. "You should stick with your own kind," declares Lettuce, while the Radishes chirp: "Proper vegetables never look past their own fence!" The flowers are no more pleased, with Carnation sneering: "Raw vegetables - how dreadfully crude!", and Marigold labeling the interlopers "tedious soup-wallowers." But then the intrepid vegetables begin to dance, and their snazzy Snap-Bean Rumba, breezy Cucumber Tango, and Chili-Pepper Cha-Cha-Cha, soon win them friends...

Originally published as Der Blumenball, this charming Austrian picture-book is probably most notable for Silke Leffler's highly individual fairy-tale-type illustrations. The story - translated by Philip Boehm - is engaging enough, with its tale of learning to look past differences, and find friends of all kind, but it is the artwork that holds the reader's attention. I don't know that I would rank Leffler, with her collage-ish flower and vegetable portraits, among my favorite picture-book artists - her faces are a little too small to be entirely appealing - but the overall effect of her work is very pleasing, and I'm glad to have come across The Flower Ball (Thank you, Kathryn!). All in all, a title I would recommend to fans of the illustrator, and to those young readers with a taste for "flower-fairy" type stories. ( )