Freckled, red-haired Emmy loves trees—her grandmother’s impressive mimosa in particular. She treasures its low branches, its fuzzy pink flowers and its rattling seedpods. Mai-Wyss’s vibrant watercolor-and-collage illustrations show Emmy swinging, dancing, dreaming and playing beneath the mimosa while lyrical text describes her admiration with playful humor. “That ol’ tree is a lot like you. Stubborn and strong and a little bit wild,” Gramma says. For her birthday, Emmy asks for a mimosa of her own, but the stores don’t sell wild trees, and she has to find another way to make one her own. The baby mimosa she discovers doesn’t have low branches, pink flowers and seedpods—at least not yet. What is a tree-loving tomboy to do? A spunky and independent heroine, a satisfying story and a gentle environmental message combine nicely here in an arboreal celebration that will delight many a young reader. A fine introduction to the pleasures of trees, well suited for group and home reading. (Picture book. 4-8)
