Agnes and Her Amazing Orchid

Agnes and Her Amazing Orchid
Author: Linda Locke
Publisher: Epigram Books
Total Pages: 36
Release: 2018
Genre: Juvenile Nonfiction
ISBN: 9814757438

Nominated for the 2019 Singapore Book Awards, Best Children's Picture Book In the 1800s, a girl named Agnes Joaquim was passionate about plants. She even learned to grow cool-weather European vegetables in the tropical heat of Singapore. As she grew up, she collected many prizes for her plants. One day, after many trials and difficulty, she created a brand-new orchid. She showed it to an orchid expert named Henry Ridley, who officially named the flower the Vanda Miss Joaquim. This is the story of how one woman's ingenuity and determination created a flower that became world famous...and Singapore's National Flower in 1981. "Agnes and Her Amazing Orchid chronicles the remarkable journey of a brilliant horticulturist. An excellent introduction to our national flower, this wonderful book also provides a glimpse into the orchid breeding process. Singapore has a rich heritage in orchid cultivation, being one of the leading orchid hybridisation centres in the world. I hope this engaging story will inspire an interest in horticulture and botany amongst our children." —Kenneth Er, CEO of National Parks Board "A remarkable story of Agnes Joaquim’s passion for horticulture, whose interest in breeding orchids led her to become the first woman to breed a hybrid orchid – Singapore’s national flower the Vanda Miss Joaquim. Her story inspires us all to pursue our dreams." —Rosa Daniel, Deputy Secretary (Culture) Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth

The Orchid Folios

The Orchid Folios
Author: Mok Zining
Publisher: Ethos Books
Total Pages: 147
Release: 2022-08-12
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 9811471657

“When you take an orchid out of its pot, you must first loosen the roots’ hold on the soil. Late last evening as I unravelled the braids of the shattered phalaenopsis, I saw how the ends were white and shrivelled from neglect. You have to do it gently—it’s like combing hair. I remember Mum’s fingers running through mine, and mine through hers, until the final months when all of it started to fall.” A pot shatters. An arrangement falls apart. A florist finds herself amidst the scattered leaves of history. At once a poetry collection and a documentary novella, The Orchid Folios reimagines the orchid as a living, breathing document of history: a history that enmeshes the personal, colonial, linguistic, and biotechnological with the Vanda Miss Joaquim, the symbol of Singapore’s postcolonial hybridity. While the Orchid has shaped the fantastical narratives that govern our multiracial City in a Garden, it continues to shape-shift and bloom on its own terms, challenging us to imagine a decolonised Singapore. This is the organism at the heart of The Orchid Folios—by turns stark and unruly, documenting and challenging the narratives that are the roots of our national consciousness.

Wild Orchids Across North America

Wild Orchids Across North America
Author:
Publisher: Timber Press (OR)
Total Pages: 332
Release: 1998
Genre: Gardening
ISBN:

The author has driven more than 100,000 miles and walked several hundred more in pursuit of orchids in their native habits. This is an account of his trips in Canada and throughout the U.S.

Biology of Vanda Miss Joaquim

Biology of Vanda Miss Joaquim
Author: Choy Sin Hew
Publisher: NUS Press
Total Pages: 312
Release: 2002
Genre: Science
ISBN: 9789971692513

This is the ultimate book on Singapore's national flower. Created as a hybrid in Singapore, by the woman horticulturalist whose name it bears, it was first formally described in 1893 by "Mad" Ridley, of Singapore's Botanic Gardens. Fifty years later it was one of the most famous orchids in the world, grown from Hawai'i to Barbados. Its popularity faltered in the 1950s, but in the 1980s it was selected as a symbol of Singapore. Its role in Singapore's national and horticultural life seems unlikely to diminish. This book is a repository of the relevant scientific, horticultural, and historical knowledge on Singapore's national flower.

The Runaway Who Became President

The Runaway Who Became President
Author: Amanda Kee
Publisher: Epigram Books
Total Pages: 43
Release: 2016
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 9811700613

From a trying childhood to surviving the Japanese Occupation and even falling in love, the life of Singapore’s longest-serving president, the late S.R. Nathan, turned out to be more colourful than many might imagine. The Runaway Who Became President not only introduces us to a man who dedicated his life to the service of our nation, but also to the various people who helped him work through his own challenges and shape him as a well-loved and respected Singaporean icon.

The Lady Agnes Mystery

The Lady Agnes Mystery
Author: Andrea Japp
Publisher: Gallic Books
Total Pages: 521
Release: 2015-11-10
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1910477192

Andrea Japp uses her remarkable knowledge of French history to tell an intricate and spellbinding story of a battle between church and state. 'An excellent read' Historical Novels Review 1304. The Church and the French Crown are locked in a power struggle. In the Normandy countryside, monks on a secret mission are brutally murdered and a poisoner is at large at Clairets Abbey. Young noblewoman Agnès de Souarcy fights to retain her independence but must face the Inquisition, unaware that she is the focus of an ancient quest.

Race to Rio

Race to Rio
Author: David Seow
Publisher: Epigram Books
Total Pages: 35
Release: 2020
Genre: Juvenile Nonfiction
ISBN: 9814757616

Joseph Schooling’s race to the Olympics began when he was still a boy. With the support and love of Mum and Dad, he dedicated himself to being the best swimmer he could be. From triumphant victories to devastating defeats, Joseph never gave up no matter how discouraged he got, and he finally proved that no dream is too big for a boy when he won Singapore's first Olympic Gold medal.

The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart

The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart
Author: Holly Ringland
Publisher: House of Anansi
Total Pages: 342
Release: 2018-08-07
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1487005237

An enchanting and captivating novel about how our untold stories haunt us — and the stories we tell ourselves in order to survive. After her family suffers a tragedy, nine-year-old Alice Hart is forced to leave her idyllic seaside home. She is taken in by her grandmother, June, a flower farmer who raises Alice on the language of Australian native flowers, a way to say the things that are too hard to speak. Under the watchful eye of June and the women who run the farm, Alice settles, but grows up increasingly frustrated by how little she knows of her family’s story. In her early twenties, Alice’s life is thrown into upheaval again when she suffers devastating betrayal and loss. Desperate to outrun grief, Alice flees to the dramatically beautiful central Australian desert. In this otherworldly landscape Alice thinks she has found solace, until she meets a charismatic and ultimately dangerous man. Spanning two decades, set between sugar cane fields by the sea, a native Australian flower farm, and a celestial crater in the central desert, The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart follows Alice’s unforgettable journey, as she learns that the most powerful story she will ever possess is her own.

Once

Once
Author: Cameron Dokey
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 641
Release: 2012-02-07
Genre: Young Adult Fiction
ISBN: 1442439955

Read “happily ever after” with this magical eBook collection that includes three enchanting, retold fairy tales. Journey to faraway fairy tale lands with atmospheric retellings of three beloved tales. Before Midnight revisits Cinderella’s story in France, Golden puts a new spin on Rapunzel’s romance, and Wild Orchid reimagines the Chinese tale of Mulan. With so much real-life drama in today’s busy world, Once allows readers to escape into whimsical realms where every story has a happily ever after.