The English Roses "The Guardian", poet and novelist Michael Rosen found "The English Roses" to be heavier on the moralistic side rather than being ironic, which he felt was the norm for children's books. In the same article, author Francesca Simon felt the book "has no characters, no story and there is no tension, which is a problem." Both criticized Fulvimari's illustrations with Rosen describing them as "odious pictures". Emily Nussbaum of "New York" magazine found Binah's character was "the blandest, most passive good-girl on Earth, the opposite of Madonna" and felt that by writing the book, the singer was in a way
The Stars and the Roses the "San Francisco Chronicle" called the piece "a short but lushly expressive suite of three orchestral songs" and wrote, ""The Stars and the Roses" needed no help in making its effect felt. With its poignant, resourceful orchestral writing and clarion text-setting, the piece illuminates Milosz's poetry (in English translation) in a subtle but evocative way." Jeff Dunn of the "San Francisco Classical Voice" similarly lauded, "The orchestration is the immediate strong point of the piece, but unlike the in-your-face symphony, Stucky's motivic content and progression may require repeated listenings for its subtleties to become manifest." Stucky rewrote the piece in