On "Max and the Dumb Flower Picture," by the late Martha Alexander:

"(A) lovely tribute to a veteran writer and illustrator whose works no self-respecting library should be without."

— Kirkus Reviews

"Alexander is spot-on with her understanding of the pressures children feel to conform ('You'll be the only one without a nice picture for your mother,' says Miss Tilley) and her respect for their individualism, which to the uninformed, may appear like acting-out."

— Publishers Weekly

"Kids will enjoy the story about the young, triumphant rebel, and the creativity message is for adults too: there is no one way to get things right."

— Booklist

It is bittersweet to write about Martha Alexander's last picture book. The celebrated Honolulu author and artist had been in the middle of creating "Max and the Dumb Flower Picture" at the time of her death in 2006. Charlesbridge Publishing released the book this month, thanks to an act of loving kindness from Martha's friend, local author/artist James Rumford.

The manuscript Alexander left behind tells the story of a rebellious boy named Max. His teacher, Miss Tilley, wants all the children to color in a flower picture for Mother's Day. Max doesn't want to fill in the blank spaces of the coloring book page. From the text:

"Max knew his mother didn't like coloring books, and he knew she wouldn't like a dumb flower picture, either. He knew she would rather have his very own drawing. Max just sat there and sat there."

"I haven't lost touch with my own vulnerability as a child," Alexander once told me. "A couple of times I was referred to as 'the children's advocate,' which I loved."

Perhaps the most striking element of this book is what you don't see, which is any trace of artist James Rumford.

"I wanted to disappear, so that it was her art, her story," Rumford said. "I wasn't going to re-interpret it."

Such irony. Out of his respect, admiration and affection, Rumford, one of the most creative children's book artists I know, was willing, and able, to color inside Alexander's lines, just right, so she could share a final message on creativity.

Jolie Jean Cotton is a Honolulu freelance writer. Her reviews of children's books appear here on the first Sunday of the month.