Watch me Bloom by Krina Patel-Sage

The theme of National Share a Story Month 2025 is about changing the world through nurturing a love of the environment whether close to home or further away. Watch Me Bloom by Krina Patel-Sage (from Lantana Publishing), seemed to sum that up; we loved the way that it illustrates how connection to the natural world opens a path to well-being. We are delighted to feature it in the NSSM booklist and to have interviewed author, Krina Patel-Sage about the inspiration behind the book.

The book is infused with a love of flowers and nature. Is that something you were brought up with or is it something you have discovered later?

I grew up in London, quite an indoor childhood, but I think a love of nature was something within me. As a child, I adopted a snail so, to the extent to which you can be involved in nature in the city, I was always fascinated by natural things. When I moved to the countryside I really started learning about different flowers.

There are so many flowers to choose from. How did you select the flowers?

I wanted the scope to be really wide and to include some symbolism, historical and cultural and some emotional and well-being content. Then it had to follow the seasons which was a big factor. I definitely wanted to include sunflowers because they are so happy and one of my favourites but I also knew I wanted to have quite a few that children wouldn’t already know so that they could learn names like cornflower and hollyhock. I wanted fun elements like daisy chains that a child can go out into nature and experience for themselves. Even in the city, you can always find a daisy.

At the end of the book, you thank super cool Theo Williams for inspiring the cover character. Are any other of the characters inspired by people you know?

Yes. Probably all the other characters are too, although not intentionally. It’s like a dream; it’s all based on what you see. You don’t know the exact person or moment but they come out in a book. So the azalea picture looks like my best friend’s son and her mother. The family with the daisy chain isn’t a particular Somali family but it is based on families I see in my neighbourhood which is very diverse. I think it is important for all children to see themselves in books.

The structure of haiku poems means every word needs to be chosen very carefully. How hard was it to find the right words for your audience?

I think about the words a lot because learning vocabulary is so important: for education and later life but also emotionally, to be able to express oneself, it is important to have the right words. I don’t like patronising children. If they have such a capacity to learn, why not teach them rich language?

The bright colour palette is such a distinctive feature of this book. How important is colour to you and how is colour linked to well-being, do you think?

Colour is my thing. I love bright colours. I think there is a very simple link between colours and well-being. We were given senses not only for survival but also for pleasure. You can experience pleasure through all your senses and I think colour is a massive part of visual pleasure.