ANOTHER WAY TO CLIMB A TREE

A young tree lover finds a way to climb into the leafy branches even when she is sick and confined indoors.

In an early double-page spread, Lulu, a small redheaded white girl, can be seen standing in her bare feet on the left-hand page: “When Lulu sees a climbing tree, / she’s here” and on the right-hand page, peering out from the leafy branches of a tree: “and then she’s gone, just like that.” Lulu scrambles up even the tallest trees—she rescues cats and kites, and sometimes she lies along a branch like Philippe Petit on a high wire, leaves in her hair. Hooper’s digitally rendered bold lines and warm colors celebrate Lulu’s trees: strong twisted trunks, straight trunks, evergreen boughs, broad leaves. Big and little children, mostly white though there are a few children of color, gather under the trees. The houses are spaced generously apart and a Royal typewriter and a camera sit on Lulu’s bookcase, giving the setting a timeless feel. Lulu’s sadness indoors is conveyed through her separation from the tree by her window, and only the sun and later the moon climb the branches. But the foliage shadow on Lulu’s wall is invitingly dense, broad-branched, and full of golden light—enticing for a girl whose imagination is as nimble as she is.

Engaging for climbers and dreamers alike.