The Flower Ball

Following a familiar story line, this fable by an Austrian duo features some outcasts who withstand scorn from a haughtier, higher-status group, but end by thawing their hearts. In this case, the outcasts are vegetables, and the snooty in-group are flowers. "Raw vegetables—how dreadfully crude!" a Carnation exclaims, when Cauliflower and Carrot show up at the dance. "They're nothing but tedious soup-wallowers!" cries Marigold in disgust. Secure in the knowledge that they have given no offense, the vegetable couple burn up the dance floor and charm the flowers out of their hauteur ("They all learned that they could get along splendidly"). Leffler's gouaches, composed of equal parts fairy wood, royal castle and Bloomingdale's best, provide the volume's chief delight. He rejects a cartoon approach, injecting a human quality into the plants. With a sensual palette of wedding cake colors, Leffler transforms pistils and stamens into delicate headgear, and petals into floor-length ballgowns. Cauliflower sports an 18th-century pair of breeches and a lace collar to slim his girth, while the delicate Carrot looks divine in a sheath dress and a tiara of gently waving greens. Collage touches (a photo of a butterfly bag dangling from the arm of a pansy lady, the lettering from a piece of sheet music) add atmosphere without drawing undue attention. The result is a moral tale whose décor is just as impeccable as its lesson. Ages 5-10. (Apr.)