THE ACORN & THE OAK

A giant oak leaves its mark on a forest and the humans who love the tree in this debut illustrated children’s book about loss and legacy.

A White mother and daughter make regular trips down an old dirt road and into a forest to see a striking, old oak tree. The Great Oak commands the center of the forest, a home for many woodland creatures. When the girl asks how the tree got so big, her mother explains that once there were two oaks but then a storm toppled one of them. “Over time, the remaining oak grew bigger and stronger, as if to fill the hole left by the fallen tree.” The girl asks about the acorns, and as the years pass, the pair watch the saplings from those small seeds become large trees. But despite growing herself, the girl does not notice the toll that the years have taken on the Great Oak. One winter, when she and her mother return to their favorite place, the old oak has fallen. Although the girl’s sadness is understandable, her mother reminds her how the young trees were all shaped by the Great Oak’s presence, which will remain powerful. Accardo’s story works well as a literal tale of an ancient tree’s demise. But the author’s endnotes deliver the analogy of how some people—whose impacts feel as strong as the Great Oak’s—will be remembered after they are gone because of how they shaped the lives of the individuals around them. The senses of grief and hope that infuse the pages are heightened by that analogy even as the illustrations show how, in death, the tree still helps the forest by becoming a home for a family of raccoons. Accardo’s complex sentences and dense text make this a good choice for independent readers who are building their stamina, with Waterstradt’s gorgeous images offering plenty of details to pore over. The realistic watercolors capture the mother and daughter’s deep love of nature and the reassurance that life continues after a close relative’s—or beloved tree’s—death.

A beautiful, comforting tale for nature lovers.