Clear, age-appropriate, character-building themes about caring, loss, and change.
A seedling learns life lessons as it grows into a tree in Cranston’s children’s book.
In this simple but thoughtful story, a seedling dreams of becoming a big oak tree—if only he can grow enough to pass the “Seed to Tree” ceremony that makes it official. His mentor Grandpa Oakey, offering wisdom and encouragement, reassures the seedling when he faces challenges. During a dramatic storm, when “Lightning flashes and the sky screams, ‘BOOM, BOOM, BOOM,’” Grandpa Oakey yells, “‘Stay rooted, little one,’” as the seedling fights to survive. This phrase will become especially meaningful when the seedling realizes it is his turn to take on the role of mentor. Wilting during a hot summer in the forest, the seedling wonders how he can “become a tree with a broken limb and droopy leaves”; Grandpa Oakley’s kind owl friends fly in buckets of water to help. With a dash of whimsy, Cranston teaches young readers about developing inner strength, respect, and empathy for others, and loss is presented as part of the natural cycle of life. Alternating with pages of text set against a light blue background, full-page, colorful digital illustrations offer playful and dramatic visual touches, including the trees’ expressive faces; whirls of heavy wind and jagged lightning bolts; and a possum, squirrels, and an earthworm helping the seedling in his “Seed to Tree” ceremony. (The book’s limited real-life plant lore includes the seedling’s eventual name, “Dendro,” which is inspired by Grandpa Oakey’s explanation of “dendrochronology,” the process of determining a tree’s age by counting its rings after it dies.) The text includes a “Discussion Questions” section that young readers can ponder or adults can use as conversation starters to engage children in expressing how they relate to aspects of Dendro’s experiences: “Dendro looked up to Grandpa Oakey. Who do you look up to, and why?”
Clear, age-appropriate, character-building themes about caring, loss, and change.Pub Date: Sept. 9, 2024
ISBN: 9798991499323
Page Count: 32
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: March 5, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift.
A paean to teachers and their surrogates everywhere.
This gentle ode to a teacher’s skill at inspiring, encouraging, and being a role model is spoken, presumably, from a child’s viewpoint. However, the voice could equally be that of an adult, because who can’t look back upon teachers or other early mentors who gave of themselves and offered their pupils so much? Indeed, some of the self-aware, self-assured expressions herein seem perhaps more realistic as uttered from one who’s already grown. Alternatively, readers won’t fail to note that this small book, illustrated with gentle soy-ink drawings and featuring an adult-child bear duo engaged in various sedentary and lively pursuits, could just as easily be about human parent- (or grandparent-) child pairs: some of the softly colored illustrations depict scenarios that are more likely to occur within a home and/or other family-oriented setting. Makes sense: aren’t parents and other close family members children’s first teachers? This duality suggests that the book might be best shared one-on-one between a nostalgic adult and a child who’s developed some self-confidence, having learned a thing or two from a parent, grandparent, older relative, or classroom instructor.
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-943200-08-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Compendium
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
Although the love comes shining through, the text often confuses in straining for patterned simplicity.
A collection of parental wishes for a child.
It starts out simply enough: two children run pell-mell across an open field, one holding a high-flying kite with the line “I wish you more ups than downs.” But on subsequent pages, some of the analogous concepts are confusing or ambiguous. The line “I wish you more tippy-toes than deep” accompanies a picture of a boy happily swimming in a pool. His feet are visible, but it's not clear whether he's floating in the deep end or standing in the shallow. Then there's a picture of a boy on a beach, his pockets bulging with driftwood and colorful shells, looking frustrated that his pockets won't hold the rest of his beachcombing treasures, which lie tantalizingly before him on the sand. The line reads: “I wish you more treasures than pockets.” Most children will feel the better wish would be that he had just the right amount of pockets for his treasures. Some of the wordplay, such as “more can than knot” and “more pause than fast-forward,” will tickle older readers with their accompanying, comical illustrations. The beautifully simple pictures are a sweet, kid- and parent-appealing blend of comic-strip style and fine art; the cast of children depicted is commendably multiethnic.
Although the love comes shining through, the text often confuses in straining for patterned simplicity. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: April 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4521-2699-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2015
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