Review by Booklist Review
On the eve of the twentieth anniversary of the September 11 tragedy comes this eloquent picture book about loss and healing. When the Twin Towers filled the sky, a Callery pear tree grew below, unnoticed through the seasons--until that fall. As workers cleared rubble from the Twin Towers' collapse, they discovered unexpected green, a bit of life amid so much destruction. Colleen's spare, lyrical text continues to describe how the tree was taken to fresh soil, where it healed for nine years before it was replanted in its original home, now the 9/11 Memorial, and became known as the Survivor Tree. Caldecott Honor--winner Becker's soft, evocative watercolor-and-colored-pencil illustrations tell another story. Readers not only watch the tree first grow, but a younger brother and an older sister play around and stroll past it over the years, until the sister walks off the page and presumably into one of the towers for work. Amid the floating debris after the collapse is a small childhood photograph of them with the tree. In the final scenes, the brother, now a husband and father, visits the 9/11 Memorial with his family. Together, they reach out to the tree and become survivors, too. A concluding note fills in more information on the Survivor Tree. A moving history and tribute to resilience.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Observing the 20th anniversary of 9/11, this nonfiction picture book follows a Callery pear tree, growing "at the foot of the towers" for almost 30 years, that was rescued from the rubble following the attacks. Colleen frames the narrative through the tree's seasonal displays ("Winter, spring, summer, fall. Bare, white, green, red") and its history, employing spare, elegant prose as she traces its journey before its uprooting, its decade of recovery in the Bronx's Arthur Ross Nursery, and its replanting at the 9/11 Memorial: "The/ tree/ hesitated/ to/ fill/ the/ empty/ sky." Rendered in watercolor and colored pencil, lush illustrations by Caldecott Honoree Becker realistically reflect the city setting and the story's natural elements while leaving space for images of a varied array of human characters. A sensitive, accessible entry point into a relatively recent tragedy. Back matter includes more information on the Survivor Tree and notes from the creators. Ages 4--8. (Aug.)
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Review by Horn Book Review
Colleen uses the cycle of the seasons to tell the remarkable story of New York City's Survivor Tree. Through lyrical prose, she describes the Callery pear tree as it stood for nearly thirty years. "In fall, the tree blazed red with a million hearts before each took off in an elegant dance." The author then alludes to the events of 9/11 ("One September day, the perfect blue sky exploded"), when the tree was crushed and burned in the devastation. As workers detected some green sprouts weeks later, the tree was declared to be "the last living thing pulled from the rubble." It was taken to the Bronx, replanted, and painstakingly rehabilitated over the next decade. In December 2020, the tree was transported back to lower Manhattan, where today it has a place of honor silently marking the seasons, on the 9/11 Memorial Plaza. Becker's (Caldecott honoree for Journey, rev. 9/13) lovely, elongated watercolor and colored-pencil compositions emphasize the vertical stature of the Twin Towers, the "steel straight" trunks of the trees around it, and the erect posture of the Statue of Liberty. The book's trim size and occasional use of vertical type further reinforce the notion of standing tall. While there have been several books to date about the Survivor Tree (recently This Very Tree, rev. 7/21), this one is particularly well suited to young audiences and perfectly reflects the book's dedication: "May peace and hope grow from the darkest of our days." Luann Toth September/October 2021 p.114(c) Copyright 2021. 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 remarkable tree stands where the twin towers of the World Trade Center once soared. Through simple, tender text, readers learn the life-affirming story of a Callery pear tree that grew and today still flourishes "at the foot of the towers." The author eloquently describes the pre-9/11 life of the "Survivor Tree" and its heartening, nearly decadelong journey to renewal following its recovery from the wreckage of the towers' destruction. By tracking the tree's journey through the natural cycle of seasonal changes and colors after it was found beneath "the blackened remains," she tells how, after replanting and with loving care (at a nursery in the Bronx), the tree managed miraculously to flourish again. Retransplanted at the Sept. 11 memorial, it valiantly stands today, a symbol of new life and resilience. Hazy, delicate watercolor-and--colored pencil artwork powerfully traces the tree's existence before and after the towers' collapse; early pages include several snapshotlike insets capturing people enjoying the outdoors through the seasons. Scenes depicting the towers' ruins are aptly somber yet hopeful, as they show the crushed tree still defiantly alive. The vivid changes that new seasons introduce are lovingly presented, reminding readers that life unceasingly renews itself. Many paintings are cast in a rosy glow, symbolizing that even the worst disasters can bring forth hope. People depicted are racially diverse. Backmatter material includes additional facts about the tree. A lovely 20th-anniversary tribute to the towers and all who perished--and survived. (author's note, artist's note) (Informational picture book. 5-8) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
