I adore this book! It is a sweet story about two people connecting over the physical disabilities that make them a little different than the people around them.

Florence & Leon use a straw illustration to simply explain their disabilities to each other- perfect for children to get an idea as well.

Florence and Leon offer to help each other, their strengths complementing. I would highly recommend this book for classrooms or parents teaching empathy.

Thank you so much, NetGalley, for allowing me to read this story early!

How long does it take to fall in love? 32 pages!
What a delightful and intimate story of two very different people who meet unexpectedly with a "bump".
I was pleasantly surprised to discover that this book was originally written in French and want to read it in that language as well.
This would make a wonderful gift for a sweetheart.

Boy, I've been going through a real shit storm - in real life (Easter seems to have hit me with a lot of eggs where it hurts the most) and also with books, but this was like a shooting star with the perfect wish come true.

In fact, I wish I could rate it with all the stars in the literary sky.

I don't know what this was but I WANT MORE. Every day. In fact, I think The New Yorker should commission Simon and Delphie to create similar dating scenes for adults on a weekly basis.

This is real art, in my opinion. And new, in a literary world where nothing is new anymore.

You read and you look and you can't believe your luck of getting this in your hands!

I'm usually a really critical reader - I go through tens of shorts and at least a few books a week, throwing out most that I start due to lack of soul, storyline, empathy, spirit etc. I need substance. I crave LOVE, I mingle amongst fictional characters, I feed on plots that go places I can't go in my physical world. And Florence and Leon was something out of this world.

It is so simple. And so true.

It is not, but also, it so IS for children. If I had a teenager at home right now I would give him/her this as a V-day gift!

I so hope this becomes a series. Not only made my day but gave me hope that there are real artists out there who create from their hearts and souls beautiful, meaningful and entertaining things.

Such a sweet story! A bit stilted I think, but its a translation from French. It can be forgiven. I enjoyed it very much and the illustrations were lovely. Not sure what age group. Not really for children, Maybe teens and adults.

This was a cute story and the illustrations were really good. However, I'm not sure children will understand it. The story seemed very complex.

Florence and Leon have magical stories. The coming together of two people with different physical challenges and the way they learn from one another and grow together is absolutely beautiful. This is another window and mirror book that could be incredibly powerful for students. This should be a book present in classrooms and libraries around the world. It has messages that will appeal to children at any level, in any language.

I love the illustrations in this book, they give a really calm feel to the book, and suit the story perfectly. It's a really short faced paced, child-friendly romance book. I'd love to read the book with the French and English version together, it would be perfect for the classroom. It's a very uncommon story for a picture book, as most focus on friendships and children rather than adults.

A sweet story with wonderful illustrations. The text provides readers with a story of the lives of people who literally bump into each other and become life-long companions. The overall focus on differently abled bodies is situated in a refreshing way and allows readers to relate on multiple levels with the characters.

A fantastic story of two disabled people falling in love, told in such a beautiful and elegant way. A really good book for children to understand what it means to live with a disability. Highly recommended.

Review to be posted on my blog and other places in August.

I received this book from Netgalley in exchange of an honest review.

Leon and Florence don't know it yet, but they are going to meet up and fall in love. And be too darned cute together.

This is a picture book, but be warned it is a bit more advanced than that. I was surprised as I expected a normal picture book (so either no words or little words). I would definitely not recommend it to very small children as there are a lot of words, not always too easy. This would be better for older children.

And it was pretty cute as well, I loved that they authors managed to explain what was going on with Florence and Leon in a manner that kids (though again, maybe not the smallest kids) would understand. Florence has trouble with breathing, Leon can't see well (it is like he watching through a straw).

I had a laugh at how these two met up. Such a typical anime/manga scenario that I was just laughing at how silly it was to see it happen in a children's book as well.

The art was decent. A bit simple, but the style did fit with the book + the characters did fit with the way I would envision them.

All in all, a pretty cute and interesting story. We do need more books like this.

Florence & Leon is an unusual picture book in that it is pretty much a quirky romance story (not something I often see in picture books, but perhaps it's more common in French ones, as this was originally published in French), and while it's written at a level that children can understand, I imagine it would appeal more to teens and adults, though I could be wrong.

I do like the visual of the straws that each person uses to describe their particular physical difficulty, and the connection they make because of it. That's an aspect that older children might be able to appreciate, especially with a common object being used as an illustration.

Perhaps it's cheesy in places, and it won't be everyone's cup of tea, but I thought it was cute.

(Thanks to NetGalley for the review copy.)

This is an interesting picture book. It talks about disability, and try to show how to understand it. It is also a love story. And the pictures, as you can see below, are cartoon like, and have sequential art to accompany the story.

It is an attempt to show how two people, who each have different disabilities, can not only live and work and love, but also what it is like to be them. The examples given are done with a straw. If you have to only breath through a straw, you would be short of breath, Florence explains her disability that way. If you had to look through a straw at everything, it would be hard to see, and that is the way that Leon explains his disability.

The problem is, and perhaps it is only a problem for me, is that there isn't much of a story here. Yes, it is a love story, and yes it explains disabilities, but that is all there is. And perhaps that is enough for a picture book. And it is a simple way to explain disabilities.

<img class="alignnone wp-image-317 size-full" src="http://www.reyes-sinclair.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Screen-Shot-2018-03-23-at-3.33.01-PM.png" alt="Florence &amp; Leon"/>


Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

This book focuses on disability from the point of Florence who has a lung problem and Leon whom has a problem with his eyes.



The pair discuss their disabilities over a drink in this delightful picture book for children. The illustrations depict their tale alongside the writing and being short and sweet but to the point about people's differences and disabilities including how they effect someone in a way you may not understand or indeed see.



The pair meet by chance and their honesty and politeness towards each other teaches kids how to interact with a stranger whom may or may not have a disability of some kind too.


It raises the subject of acceptance by others in how people differ and we may all needs help or assistance as well as not judging or assuming anything about others on what they can or cannot do.



The illustrations of the characters were in a lovingly hand drawn style and kept a rather neutral colour scheme throughout with most colour being from the characters themselves.



This is a charming book for all young children and I would highly recommend it.



Many thanks to the publishers for allowing me to review this book for them!

ARC COPY...I thought in simple easy to understand explains to children the pros +cons of handicaps/disabilities. One "disabled" sense leads to another "enhanced" sense and in the case of the protagonists a chance for them to chat and bond together as friends.

This was interesting. It was a little advanced for a picture book, but it would probably be good for 1-2 grades. It was a story about seeing things from other perspectives and learning to understand differences. It was good.
#netgalley

A swimming instructor with weak lungs, and a half-blind insurance worker, have never before been the subjects of a children's book – in isolation, let alone together. But they're both here, and the effect is very pleasant. Yes, it's a polemic about seeing beyond the disability to the ability, yes it's an all-ages love story, yes it's a slightly twee little read for anybody, but it still has a bit extra. Partly that's down to the artwork – a wash of greys with some colours picked out here and there, which makes the pages stand out. But mostly it's down to the contents being so unusual for a picture book – it's not just those adult characters that the target audience will never have read about, it's the theme too, and to some extent the style. And the straws. I couldn't say I'd rush out and buy it, but it was a perfectly decent, and very interesting, little read. Four and a half stars.