WHY EVERGREENS KEEP THEIR LEAVES

An original pourquoi tale seeks to explain cardinal behavior.

This book does double duty, both explaining why coniferous trees remain green in the wintertime and also explaining why cardinals never migrate south. On the day that a little red bird injures her wing, just before the onset of winter, she decides to seek shelter in the branches of a strong tree. Unfortunately, the deciduous trees she encounters are less than inviting. The birch feels too weak, the oak too miserly, and the maple too self-absorbed to offer her any aid. Distraught, Little Redbird is comforted by a fir tree who, along with a blue spruce and a juniper, promises the bird food and shelter. This act of kindness is rewarded by the Frost Queen, who in turn informs her son Jack (who, like her, presents white and human) to never touch the leaves of the trees that helped Little Redbird. The telling adheres closely to the cadences and conventions of most classic folktales. Bold colors and the striking contrast of the red bird within a green tree are on full display, giving each page a true jolt of visual pop. Alas, this beauty is marred by the inexplicable choice to make the bird female. Only male cardinals are red, a fact completely ignored by this otherwise sweet tale.

Fables are fine, but why eschew facts? (Picture book. 4-7)