Poetree

January 15, 2019
A little girl enjoys writing poems and gets an unexpected surprise when she writes a poem and gives it to a tree, making "the world more splendid."Sylvia marks the end of winter with a poem about springtime. After reading it to a squirrel, she ties it to a tree ("hoping that it didn't count as littering"). When she passes the tree on her way to school the next day, she finds a surprise--another poem on the tree. "She never imagined the tree might write back." Sylvia continues to write poems to the tree and waits to find the next poem. When she realizes a teasing classmate, Walt, is the author of the other poems, she is sad: "Had the tree she loved so much not given her a thing?" Not too unsurprisingly, the two poets become friends, harmoniously trading rhymes beneath the tree that has brought them together. Using precise, intelligent prose, Reynolds captures moments of a child's innocence: " 'So what's your name?' Sylvia asked the tree. But the tree stood in silence. 'Are you shy like me?' The tree nodded in the breeze. Sylvia understood." Maydani's delicate, pencil-and-watercolor paintings, suffused with spring pastels, affectionately invest Sylvia (who has brown skin), Walt (who presents white), and even the tree with personality. A sweet and quiet homage to friendship, nature, and the power of words and poetry. (Picture book. 4-8)

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January 28, 2019
Reynolds explores the joy of unexpected kinship in this gentle springtime ode. A thoughtful girl welcomes spring with a poem, which she ties to a birch tree that stands atop a hill; the birch’s response precipitates a back-and-forth between the two. “White birch on the hill/ Speaks out loud through rustling leaves/ Great green Poetree,” the child writes in haiku form. The tree responds in kind: “I’ve wondered a while/ Can a tree and child be friends?/ Your words give me hope.” Maydani illustrates in airy pink, blue, and yellow pastel layers that call up the loveliness of the season. In one spread, readers will see Sylvia’s classmate Walt also visiting the tree. Both children are disappointed to learn that they were communicating with one another all along, but their mutual interest leads them to strike up a friendship of their own, and a useful message for all: “A friend of the tree is okay with me.” Ages 4–8.

Starred review from March 1, 2019

PreS-Gr 2-A quiet and warm book that celebrates the power of poetry, nature, and friendship. After Sylvia leaves a poem tied to a birch tree at the beginning of spring, "hoping that it didn't count as littering if it made the world more splendid," she is shocked to discover a new poem waiting for her when she next passes by. She believes the tree has written her back and is "her new leafy friend." Soon Sylvia is daydreaming about the tree and composing a beautiful haiku in the tree's honor. When she finally realizes that a boy in her class named Walt, who has made fun of her at school, actually wrote the poems, she is unbearably sad. As Walt and Sylvia try to come to terms with the realization that the tree cannot write poetry, they also make the first tentative steps toward a new friendship based on their mutual love of words and the birch tree. The language is lyrical and sweet, and the soft pastel-colored illustrations perfectly match the tone of the story. VERDICT A beautiful tale that celebrates friendship, lovely words, and glorious nature.-Sally James, South Hillsborough Elementary School, Hillsborough, CA

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