This Is the Tree We Planted
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- $5.99
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- $5.99
Publisher Description
Learn about all of the animals that coexist in just one tree that a classroom planted in this fun, informative, cumulative picture book in the tradition of This is the House That Jack Built.
A class plants a tree in the playground, and together, they watch it grow. There is no shortage of action to observe in its branches: a robin protecting her eggs from a squirrel and her kits, a lizard stalking a spider, and a hawk swirling around overhead. Within this tree is an entire ecosystem, all created by the class who planted it. Beloved children's book creator Kate McMullan has crafted a story that will encourage kids to cultivate a love of nature as they observe the world living inside their backyards.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
A single deciduous tree is the focal point of the children who planted it and the creatures who interact within its canopy in this cumulative story with a "This Is the House That Jack Built" construction. McMullan's first-person narration skews declarative and conversational as children with varying skin tones remark upon the busy scene they observe: "Look at that squirrel with a thrashing tail/ race by the robin/ that laid the eggs/ inside the nest/ that rests in the tree we planted." Later observations spotlight birds, insects, mammals, and a reptile, all carefully depicted in Friend's soft-edged mixed-media illustrations, which largely look upward into the tree's green foliage. A final scene of the children picnicking beneath crimson leaves reveals that their arboreal adventures have taken place over multiple seasons in this rhythmic read that stresses the interconnectedness of nature. Ages 4–7.
