PICTURE BOOK - As An Oak Tree Grows - G. Brian Karas

Illustrated by the author

2014 Nancy Paulsen Books, Penguin

HC $17.99

32 oversized pages with POSTER IN A POCKET IN THE BACK

Goodreads rating: 3.90

My rating: 4.5 (It would have been a five if it had started a little more honestly....see below.....)

Endpapers:the palest of green, with the same darker green leaves and acorns.  gentle.

Title Page:  Most of the page is taken up with a huge tree truck.  Beside it sits an acorn.  The only other thing you see is a huge field of grass.

Illustrations: Gouache and pencil.  Goergeous.  Covering the entire page.  I wonder what size the actual drawings are?

1^st line/s: "On a sunny late summer day, a young boy planted an acorn in the ground."

"In Memory of Pete Seeger" (How wonderfully lovely!)

My comments:  Okay, I agree that this book starts out a little...well, a lot... shakily, but other than that the concept and the illustrations are wonderful.  (Let's be honest, the young Native American boy didn't just grow up and move away.) But the story had to start somewhere, and the progression of PROGRESS (good OR bad) and GROWTH IN NATURE are beautifully depicted.  The time line across the bottom is a wonderful plus, the 25-year increments work perfectly, and of course, it ended the only way it could (what happens to a huge 225-year-old-tree).  I LOVED pouring over each picture looking for the changes.  I love, too, that the scene was shown in different weather and at different times of the day.

Goodreads: This inventive picture book relays the events of two hundred years from the unique perspective of a magnificent oak tree, showing how much the world can transform from a single vantage point. From 1775 to the present day, this fascinating framing device lets readers watch as human and animal populations shift and the landscape transitions from country to city. Methods of transportation, communication and energy use progress rapidly while other things hardly seem to change at all.
           This engaging, eye-opening window into history is perfect for budding historians and nature enthusiasts alike, and the time-lapse quality of the detail-packed illustrations will draw readers in as they pore over each spread to spot the changes that come with each new era. A fact-filled poster is included to add to the fun.

All the Places to Love - Patricia MacLachlan

Illustrated by Mike Wimmer, with paintings
Harper Collins, 1994
32 pgs.
Rating: 4.5

"Dedicated to my grandparents....for their sity-four years of marriage which serve as the mortar that binds my family togther." M.W.

From the beginning "On the day I was born
My grandmother wrapped me in a blanket
made from the wool of her sheep."

to the end:

"All the places to love are here, I'll tell her,
no matter where you may live.
Where else, I will say: does an old turtle crossing the path
Make all the difference in the world?"

This book is a description of place using the senses and beautiful language, including similes galore. It tells of each family member's favorite place, and is a gorgeous model and touchstone for teaching kids how to write about place.

Beautiful, just beautiful.

"My grandmother loved the river best
of all the places to love.
That sound, like a whisper, she said;
Gathering in pools
Where trout flashed like jewels in the sunlight.
Grandmother sailed little bark boats downriver to me
with messages.
I Love You Eli, one said."