WHAT DO YOU SEE WHEN YOU LOOK AT A TREE?

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WHAT DO YOU SEE WHEN YOU LOOK AT A TREE?

Name: WHAT DO YOU SEE WHEN YOU LOOK AT A TREE?
Author: Emma Carlisle
ISBN: 978-1-5362-2666-9

by Emma Carlisle ; illustrated by Emma Carlisle ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 1, 2022

Readers will look at the forest and see each tree in a whole new light.

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Each tree is a unique living being.

A young, tan-skinned child with dark hair explores the trees in their yard and other surroundings as readers are encouraged to think about trees differently. “What do you see when you look at a tree? / Leaves and twigs and branches? // Or do you see a living thing / that moves and breathes and dances?” Every tree has a unique shape and name. Some touch other trees; others are great for climbing. Trees provide habitat for animals. The text turns philosophical when musing whether trees have feelings and what history they might have seen. And it ponders future trees: Who will pick their cherries; what will their wood make? In a meta turn, the book asks readers: “Have you ever curled up with a tree in your hands, / as stories or songs in a book?” While the text rhymes, it spreads across page turns and includes just enough info and questions that readers may not notice until they reread it—or they question the few words chosen for (near) rhyme instead of meaning. Backmatter offers more info about trees, including the wood wide web, and suggests ways that readers can be like trees (e.g., being authentic and taking time for self-care). Muted colors in the pencil-and-watercolor illustrations match the tree theme and give the scenes a cozy feel. Other people in the pictures are diverse. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

Readers will look at the forest and see each tree in a whole new light. (author/illustrator note) (Informational picture book. 3-8)

Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2022

ISBN: 978-1-5362-2666-9

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Templar/Candlewick

Review Posted Online: Aug. 30, 2022

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2022

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

- PERSPECTIVES
5 Picture Books That Evoke the Wonder of Trees

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CARPENTER'S HELPER

by Sybil Rosen ; illustrated by Camille Garoche ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 16, 2021

Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story.

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A home-renovation project is interrupted by a family of wrens, allowing a young girl an up-close glimpse of nature.

Renata and her father enjoy working on upgrading their bathroom, installing a clawfoot bathtub, and cutting a space for a new window. One warm night, after Papi leaves the window space open, two wrens begin making a nest in the bathroom. Rather than seeing it as an unfortunate delay of their project, Renata and Papi decide to let the avian carpenters continue their work. Renata witnesses the birth of four chicks as their rosy eggs split open “like coats that are suddenly too small.” Renata finds at a crucial moment that she can help the chicks learn to fly, even with the bittersweet knowledge that it will only hasten their exits from her life. Rosen uses lively language and well-chosen details to move the story of the baby birds forward. The text suggests the strong bond built by this Afro-Latinx father and daughter with their ongoing project without needing to point it out explicitly, a light touch in a picture book full of delicate, well-drawn moments and precise wording. Garoche’s drawings are impressively detailed, from the nest’s many small bits to the developing first feathers on the chicks and the wall smudges and exposed wiring of the renovation. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at actual size.)

Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story. (Picture book. 3-7)

Pub Date: March 16, 2021

ISBN: 978-0-593-12320-1

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Schwartz & Wade/Random

Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2021

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2021

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S FAMILY

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ON THE FIRST DAY OF KINDERGARTEN

by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Laura Hughes ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 21, 2016

While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of...

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Rabe follows a young girl through her first 12 days of kindergarten in this book based on the familiar Christmas carol.

The typical firsts of school are here: riding the bus, making friends, sliding on the playground slide, counting, sorting shapes, laughing at lunch, painting, singing, reading, running, jumping rope, and going on a field trip. While the days are given ordinal numbers, the song skips the cardinal numbers in the verses, and the rhythm is sometimes off: “On the second day of kindergarten / I thought it was so cool / making lots of friends / and riding the bus to my school!” The narrator is a white brunette who wears either a tunic or a dress each day, making her pretty easy to differentiate from her classmates, a nice mix in terms of race; two students even sport glasses. The children in the ink, paint, and collage digital spreads show a variety of emotions, but most are happy to be at school, and the surroundings will be familiar to those who have made an orientation visit to their own schools.

While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of Kindergarten (2003), it basically gets the job done. (Picture book. 4-7)