Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Via jaunty rhyming tributes, Ziefert offers up plentiful reasons to be grateful for trees. Seven chapters each open with a statement and question ("A tree is home./ Would life be comfy without trees?"), highlighting plants of many varieties for their roles as food, comfort, music, art, recreation, home, and life. The rhymes sometimes result in repetitious examples and unusual pairings, but they make for an upbeat readaloud ("Paper kites swirling...// Boats floating by...// Tall trees reaching up/ help us see sky"), and Fitzgerald's confident digital illustrations--stylized with the look of spongy paint and etched lines, and featuring individuals of varying skin tones--embrace Ziefert's vision simply. Final pages offer a pointed warning about "man-made destruction," but the book's overall focus is more squarely on the essential, overlooked roles that trees play. Ages 4--8. (Mar.)
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Review by School Library Journal Review
K-Gr 3--In this rhyming tribute, divided into seven sections, readers learn about the invaluable role trees play in nature and daily life. Each segment describes individual characteristics of trees and how they relate to the lives of humans, animals, and the environment. Cheerful couplets and repetitive phrases, excellent for reading aloud, explain how trees serve as food, comfort, music, and more. Two spreads that can be found toward the end of the book allude to climate change by way of "man-made destruction," but the text otherwise focuses on celebrating trees and forests and does not include specific ways to protect them. Fitzgerald's colorful illustrations depict diverse humans of varying skin tones enjoying a range of activities, as well as numerous animals and ecosystems thriving, all made possible by trees. Pair with Peter Wohlleben's Can You Hear the Trees Talking?" or Lita Judge's The Wisdom of Trees for STEM and nature units. VERDICT Despite the lack of supplemental back matter, this celebratory ode that encourages readers to explore and appreciate nature is a welcome addition to most collections.--Olivia Gorecke
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
What's so great about trees? Everything, according to this picture-book tribute to our green companions. Using just a few words on each double-page spread, Ziefert enumerates the many environmental, social, culinary, and aesthetic contributions that trees make to the world. Firstly, trees nourish humans and animals with food; several pages of artwork show people picking pecans and tapping syrup and animals nibbling on leaves, nuts, and berries. Trees also provide comfort; readers are given a tour of the many wooden objects found in our homes, such as "a floor for your feet," comfy chairs, a baby's cradle, and more. In this fashion, the book moves through items made from trees that are used in the spheres of music, art, and recreation before ending with a look at the ways trees provide homes for animals and a clarion call for protecting trees as air purifiers and vital sustainers of human life. Narrated in rhyming couplets that scan well, this book manages to pack a lot of thought-provoking concepts into a short format in a cohesive, engaging way. Fitzgerald's colorful, stylized digital illustrations brim with outdoorsy charm and highlight the many beautiful textures and grain patterns of tree barks and cut wood. The ensemble cast is diverse in race, skin tone, hair color, hair texture, and age. Arboreal adoration that will indeed leave readers feeling thankful for our wooded world. (Informational picture book. 4-8) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
