The Oak Inside the Acorn

October 30, 2006
Invoking the theme that we all need to discover our God-given abilities and follow God's plan for us, Lucado's (The Crippled Lamb
) gentle parable parallels the lives of a tree and a girl. A tiny acorn shaken from its mother's strong branches becomes a mighty oak—not by trying to be like other trees and flowers, but by heeding the mother oak's sage advice: "Just be the tree God made you to be." Likewise, a girl does some soul-searching of her own—often under the protective shade of the mighty oak—as she grows up and prepares to make her way in the world. Suffused with echoes of The Giving Tree
, Lucado's story will likely reverberate with a wide audience. Angelini's hazy, bucolic oils capture flora and fauna at their sunlit best, and will likely have readers longing for a stroll among trees and flowers. Ages 5-10.

Nathan Larkin reads Lucado's story of Little Acorn's journey of growth and development with maternal tones and appropriate sound effects. Soft music plays as Little Acorn's stem breaks away from his mother's branch, and he tumbles into a farmer's truck filled with orange trees passing underneath. His mother's parting words--"grow and become all you can be"--linger long after her leaf-filled branches disappear in the distance. Sounds of a braking truck and shovels send Little Acorn spinning into the soft dirt beside a recently transplanted orange tree, and this engaging story of what develops begins. Larkin's delivery, especially his timing, enhance a tale that children will ask to hear repeatedly. G.D.W. (c) AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine