The biggest flower in the world

What if children's stories became mandatory reading for adults? Could they really learn what they have been teaching for so long?

Foundation

The Literary Education collection brings together works that are required and recommended reading in Basic and Secondary Education and are referenced in the National Reading Plan.

“"The Biggest Flower in the World" in Braille is available for consultation at the José Saramago Foundation Headquarters, published by the Regional Directorate of Education of the Autonomous Region of Madeira, 2023.

What if children's stories became required reading for adults? Would they be able to truly learn what they've been teaching for so long?

Foundation

What if children's stories became required reading for adults? Would they be able to truly learn what they've been teaching for so long?

Foundation

What if children's stories became mandatory reading for adults? Could they really learn what they have been teaching for so long?

To José Saramago's story, we add a set of suggestions such as "starting points for making all the greatest flowers in the world your own."“

What if children's stories became mandatory reading for adults? Could they really learn what they have been teaching for so long?

Book recommended by the Reading Support Service of the Portuguese Institute of Books and Libraries.

Shoishab

2008 (Trans.: Nazmun Nahar Alam)

Illustrations by João Caetano

The Biggest Flower in the World is a magnificent story for children, but above all, it's a genuine Saramago novel. Transforming himself into a character, the author tells us that he once had an idea for a children's book, inventing a story about a boy who makes the biggest flower in the world bloom. He didn't consider himself capable of writing for children, but he imagined that if he had the necessary qualities to put the idea on paper, it would be truly extraordinary: "it would be the most beautiful of all that have been written since the time of fairy tales and enchanted princesses…". It is from this fantasy of grandeur that the book is born. Readers are invited into a fun game, as Saramago narrates the story of the boy and the flower not as if it were the real story, but as if it were merely a sketch of what he would have told if he had the power to do the impossible: to write the best story of all time. Entering into the game with the author, young readers will learn that no one has ever had, nor will ever have, that power. They will also learn that literature is the realm of the impossible: the boy in this story makes a simple flower cast a shadow as if it were an oak tree. Then, when he “walked through the streets, people said that he had left the village to do something that was much bigger than his size and bigger than all sizes.” As in old children's literature books, Saramago concludes: “And that is the moral of the story.”.

Highly Recommended Title by the National Foundation for Children's and Young Adult Literature – FNLIJ 2001, children's category.

Ahn Graphics Publishers

2006

Illustrations by João Caetano

If stories for children were mandatory reading for adults, would we be able to learn what, for so long, we have been teaching?

Foundation

A beautiful story for children… and adults, by José Saramago, Nobel Prize winner for Literature.

The biggest flower in the world tells the story of a child who, traveling around the world, finds a strange flower. «¡Oh! There is no water around here, this flower will die». And then he starts looking for water around the world, moving away from his house and crossing unknown landscapes looking for a way to save the flower.

A story full of strength and energy and a text full of symbols and enigmas. With illustrations by João Caetano that contribute to maintaining the strength and poetry of the story.

Pack made up of the youth book The Biggest Flower of the World and its DVD version. The DVD is based on the story of José Saramago, with music by Emilio Aragón, and with the voice of Saramago himself as narrator.

Directed by Juan Pablo Etcheverry

Public Award at the Film Festival. Los Silos, Tenerife

Special Mention at the XIV Festival Corto Ciudad Real 2007

Nominated for best animated short film by Goya 2008

Prize for the best short animation film at the Contraplano Festival

Editions 62

2001, 2010 (Trans.: Xavier Pàmies)

Illustrations by João Caetano

Τι θα γινόταν αν οι ιστορίες για παιδιά γίνονταν υποχρεωτικό ανάγνωσμα για τους ενήλικες; o

It's the story of a ragazzino who lives in the countryside and loves to walk around. A giorno finds a fiore buttato via, almost appassito, and decides to arrest the cure finché, all'improvviso, dopo molte fatiche e premure, the piantina becomes the fiorire. At which point the bambino sleeps sotto la pianta. Dopo a lunga e disperata ricerca, i genitori ritrovano adagiato in terra accanto al fiore che, nel frattempo, si è trasformato nel più grande del mondo. Età di lettura: from the 4th anniversary.

Le story per l'infanzia devono essere scritte con parole molto semplici, perché i bambini sono ancora piccoli, e quindi noso poche parole e non amano usare quelle complicate. Magari sapessi scrivere storie così, but I don't sleep more stato capace di imparare, e mi dispiace. And then, without knowing anything about the parole, there is a certain non-sense for raccontare, a very direct and very chiara way, an infinite peace. And the mother is lame the less the peace, which is why it chiedo scusa. If you were to ask this question of quality, I would say something, not particolari, a beautiful story that was a story of invention… José Saramago

It combines magic, myth, and reality in one powerful commission.” BooklistIl piú grande fiore del mondo è la storia di un ragazzino che vive in campagna e ama fare lunghe passeggiate. Addormenta sotto la pianta.

La Joie de Lire

2017

Illustrations by André Letria

“"Tepeyi tırmanmaya koyulmuş ve yukarı vardığında karşısına ne çıkmış dersiniz? Karşısında yalnızca bir çiçek varmış. Ama öyle solgun, öyle bitkinmiş ki, çocuk çiçeğe yaklaşınca kendi yorgunluğunu hatırlamış.”Bir gün evinin yakınındaki ormanda gezintiye çıkan çocuk, tırmandığı tepede kurumak üzere olan bir çiçek görür. Onu hemen sulamak ister ama nehir çok uzaktadır. Çocuk, defalarca o uzaktaki nehre gidip gelir, küçük avcuyla çiçeğe su taşır. Akşam olunca da yorgunluktan oracıkta uyuyakalır. Nobel ödüllü usta yazar José Saramago'nun çocuklar için kaleme aldığı bu sıcak öykü, umut ve özveriyle her şeyin üstesinden gelinebileceğini en güzel şekilde anlatıyor.
(Tanıtım Bülteninden)