Picture Book - Be a Tree! by Maria Gianferrari

Illustrated by Felicita Sola

found at Ellsworth Public Library, 7/8/2021

2021 Abrams Books for Young Readers

44 pgs. including two that fold out into a huge quadrapage spread

Goodreads rating:  4.10 - 192 ratings 

My rating:  5
Endpapers:  3 shades of green, simple outlines of different leaves, labelled, showing veins

1^st line/s:  "Be a tree!"

My comments:  Trees are special.  Trees are friends.  And this book compares them to people and communities.  Great vocabulary, cool illustrations, wonderful tress of all sorts and locales are depicted.  "So be a tree.  For together, we are a forest."  A zillion applications for the classroom.

    Vocabulary:  sapwood (xylem, carries water & nutrients from the roots), heartwood (dead wood in the tree's center, gives strength and support), pith (soft tissue found in the very center of trunk, holds key nutrients as sapling grows, then dries up as the tree ages), sapling, crown, alert, fungi, purify, doe, sustain, vulnerable, cosmos. Also:  WOOD wide web (cute!) and Immigrant Trees.

    Activity Idea:  Leaf project of some sort

    Ends with an Author's note  - 5 ways you can save trees - How you can help your community - Anatomy of a tree - Further reading and websites

    fantasticfunandlearning.com/tree-activities-for-kids.html

    neefusa.org/nature/land/tree-toolkit

    theteachersguide.com/arbordaylessonplans.htm

    earthday.org/campaign/the-canopy-project

    arborday.org/celebrate

Goodreads:  An illustrated look at the majesty of trees—and what humans can learn from them.

Stand tall.
Stretch your branches to the sun.
Be a tree!
We are all like trees: our spines, trunks; our skin, bark; our hearts giving us strength and support, like heartwood. We are fueled by air and sun.
And, like humans, trees are social. They “talk” to spread information; they share food and resources. They shelter and take care of one another. They are stronger together.