Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Illustrations that feature dazzling colors, folk art, and contemporary sensibilities power this neatly pared retelling of Hans Christian Andersen's existential story about a small fir who feels neglected as loggers fell the towering trees that surround it. Learning that they will be used to build cabins and ships, the fir insists that it likewise wants to "become a ship and sail on the sea," and forest birds offer wise advice: "Don't wish your life away, little tree." The fir gets its chance to shine, literally, when it's cut down to become a festively decorated Christmas tree in a grand house, after which, abandoned in a shed, it reminisces about its life in the forest ("It was the best place in the world... If only I'd known it then"). Corr gives this cautionary tale a brighter ending than Andersen's original, offering comforting reflections about appreciating one's lot as well as hope for change and regeneration. Ages 4--7. (Oct.)
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Review by Horn Book Review
A little fir tree in the forest envies his full-grown neighbors, who get to be cut down by lumberjacks and become cabins and ships. A stint as a Christmas tree seems like a dream come true-until Christmas ends and the tree is moved to a shed, where he comes to realize how good he'd had it back in the forest. Though the Andersen original ends unhappily, this appreciate-what-you-have tale ultimately gives the tree the chance to do so with a return to nature before the cycle begins again with a new tree grown from his pinecones. The bold, naive-style paintings go beyond a typical Christmas-tale palette, with plenty of blues, yellows, and purples. Shoshana Flax November/December 2019 p.28(c) Copyright 2019. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
A Christmas story about gratitude, adapted from a Hans Christian Andersen tale.The eponymous little fir tree is discontented in the forest, especially when it sees other, bigger trees being cut down to build cabins and ships. People and animals alike praise the tree for its beauty, but it remains dissatisfied. Then the tree is cut down, and it goes to a home where people (all of whom appear white in the nave illustrations) decorate it for Christmas. Here, the tree feels proud and wishes the woodland animals could see it. It also enjoys listening to a storya moment that offers readers an intertextual reference to "The Snow Queen." But when the decorations are removed, the fir tree doesn't understand that it'll be taken outside and put into a shed the next day. This fate brings sadness again, but the tree is eventually gladdened when children return it out-of-doors. Its limbs lacking the needles it once had, the tree glories in the fresh air and sunshine, seemingly happy to be outside. Where the original story ends dismally for the tree, Corr is kinder, building in a subtle circle-of-life arc. The final sentence notes that a squirrel's larder, which presumably includes the fir tree's cones, allows a new tree to grow. Throughout, opaque, daub-y paintings with a folk-art sensibility enliven the storytelling but do little to expand on the details of the text.A Christmas tree-t. (Picture book. 3-6) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
