Sequoia

June 9, 2014
Johnston’s (The Cat with Seven Names) homage to the giant sequoias of California opens at dawn, as one of these towering trees “watches the/ clearing/ quietly/ fill with/ deer. He watches the/ sky/ burn blue at/ the rim.” Spare verse describes the tree as “he” experiences the seasons in turn: the sounds of spring, summer forest fires and thunderstorms, the waning light and migrations of fall, and a winter snowfall at sunset. “He throws wide/ his ancient/ arms/ with joy/ and gathers/ snow to him.” Minor’s (Edward Hopper Paints His World) softly-edged gouache watercolors provide panoramic views of and from the sentinel sequoia. In several scenes, readers glimpse inside the tree’s tallest branches as an owl takes flight or a woodpecker works away at the bark. Shifting perspectives, from high atop the tree’s canopy to animal dens beneath the forest floor, maintain visual interest. This stirring tribute portrays the millennia-old tree as a serene observer and wise caretaker of its surroundings. Endnotes offer factual information on the giant sequoia, comparing it to the taller yet younger coast redwood. Ages 3–6.

August 1, 2014
A giant sequoia experiences the world around "him" in Johnston's romantic, image-laden, anthropomorphic rendering of the life experiences of the largest tree on the planet. This sequoia "feels," "waits," "counts," "gazes," "tells"-all verbs attributed to Sequoiadendron giganteum. The author describes large and small events that occur: Birds and beasts visit and shelter, weather changes, forest fires rage, seasons turn. It is all very poetic and expresses the author's subjective understanding of the sequoia. Fortunately, facts about the great trees are nicely summarized in endnotes. Minor's gouache watercolors convey the action and present a more realistic picture of the theme. He shows the tree, the changing seasons, the sky, the animals and birds that live in the tree's branches, roots, environs. Occasionally he demands a 90-degree turn of the book, so readers can see a (relatively) tiny bear dwarfed by the towering tree. His paintings give the words life, although the animals are not identified: Is that a ground squirrel or a chipmunk? a crow or a raven? and what species is the owl flying in the moonlight? Perhaps it does not matter, since this is impressionistic free verse, lines often breaking with no apparent poetic need, rather than natural history.Minor's paintings are glorious; the textual conceit is a little overdone. (Picture book. 3-7)

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February 1, 2015

K-Gr 3-In quiet, lyrical text, Johnston personifies a giant sequoia tree and brings it to life. Readers follow the tree through the seasons: "Summers, from his post above lower trees, he sniffs the breeze. Sometimes he feels the very heat, shimmering everywhere...Autumns, among shifting drifts of leaves, he feels a chill entering his bones." Minor's luminous goauche paintings successfully capture the grandeur of these trees with dramatic shifts in perspective, from standing at the base of the tree gazing up to perching near the canopy, looking over the forest. Numerous animals that make their homes among the sequoias are shown in the illustrations, but not all are mentioned in the text. Though this is more of a poetic introduction than a research source, a one-page note at the end explains the difference between sequoias and their coastal cousins the redwoods, identifies threats to the trees, and includes a helpful range map. VERDICT Teachers may want to use this title to demonstrate the use of figurative language or pair it with Jason Chin's Redwoods (Roaring Brook, 2009) for a unit on California giants.-Jackie Partch, Multnomah County Library, Portland, OR

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October 1, 2014
Grades K-3 This examination and appreciation of a giant sequoia takes the point of view of the tree itself. Throughout, the text details what the sequoia, described as an old man wearing robes of green, experiences through the seasonsfrom spring, when he listens to the thaw and the call of birds, through winter, when the chill enters his bones. Johnston describes what the old sequoia sees, smells, hears, and feels (including the tapping of a woodpecker on his bark). In this way, not only the sequoia but also the surrounding forest and wildlife are described. The immensity of this tree is conveyed through contrast (a large bear is positively dwarfed in a vertical two-page spread) and by showing parts of the tree's enormous whole. The illustrations, rendered in gouache watercolors, vary, but the bestthe tree frosted in snow, for exampleare breathtaking. A closing page titled Some Notes on Sequoias should not be missed, as the facts here are just as startling as Johnston's fiction.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)