As an Oak Tree Grows

June 30, 2014
Karas (On Earth) juxtaposes a steadily growing oak tree with the changing landscape around it in this engaging tale of transformation and constancy. It opens with a Native American boy planting an acorn on a forested hill. Subsequent scenes and to-the-point narration reveal how the forest gives way to farmland and a town, which grows into a city. More than 200 years pass and the oak provides a home for animals, swings, and a tree fort. Gouache and pencil illustrations maintain the same perspective throughout, inviting comparisons between elements in each spread and their more modern counterparts that follow (a canoe on the bay is replaced by schooners, steamships, and motorboats). After a poignant penultimate spread (logs are sawed up and driven away after lightning takes the giant tree), the story comes full circle with a sapling. A rapidly modernizing society, the resultant impact on the environment, and the constant, observant presence of nature are themes readers can start to grasp with this book. More simply, it’s a charming cycle-of-life story and an engaging chronicle of American urban history. Ages 5–8. Agent: Brenda Bowen, Sanford J. Greenburger Associates.

August 1, 2014
From acorn to huge tree, an oak provides the focal point for this clear and simple look at over two centuries of change in a single landscape. A small boy plants an acorn in summer, close to a wigwam, high above a wide river. Though readers will guess that the tall ships that appear in the river by autumn don't belong to the same people whose canoe crosses toward shore in the first pages, Karas avoids editorializing. In the next pages, "The boy grew up and moved away. Farmers now lived here." The perspective stays: the growing tree, the river below, hills rolling away to the horizon. But seasons change, the occupants of the house on the land are different on each spread, and the landscape transforms by human hands through agriculture and construction. Karas' gouache-and-pencil art has a friendly, intimate quality. A timeline grows along the bottom of the page, beginning when the tree sprouts in 1775 and indicating the passage of time at a rate of 25 years per spread. The tree is brought down by a storm in 2000-here the narrative changes from past tense to a "you are there" present tense. Young readers may be charmed to realize that the tree sprout near the old oak's stump could by now be a sapling. This will invite repeat visits. (Informational picture book. 4-8)

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July 1, 2014

K-Gr 2-This engaging picture book charts the history of an oak tree that's more than 200 years old. Each page lists a year in the life of the tree, starting with an acorn planted by a young boy in 1775. The mighty oak survives decades of droughts and snowstorms until it is eventually felled by a lightning storm, at which point its life cycle continues in the form of "furniture, firewood and mulch." Karas's straightforward narration is informative and reflective. Detailed watercolor illustrations dramatically show the landscape evolving from rural to urban over time, also depicting the introduction of electricity, automobiles, and other new technologies. Amid this rapid change, the oak is steadfast, providing a nesting spot for birds, and beauty and shade for the community. This fascinating time capsule will spark nature and history discussions.-Linda Ludke, London Public Library, Ontario, Canada

Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 15, 2014
Grades K-3 On a hillside overlooking woods and water, an Indian boy plants an acorn, which sprouts in 1775. Fast-forward to 1800: the forests are gone, farmers plow the land, and a house sits beside the sturdy young oak tree. In the distance, a tiny community has sprung up beside the water. Each turn of the page takes readers 25 years forward, with the dates marked on a time line at the bottom of the pages. As the oak grows larger, the people's clothing and technology gradually change, while the nearby town stretches farther into the countryside. In the year 2000, a storm destroys the tree. But beside the stump, an acorn sprouts. Each picture shows the tree from the same vantage point, but the scene shifts continually to reflect varied human activities as well as changing seasons and times of day. While the size of the tree's stump may be exaggerated, the appealing pencil-and-gouache illustrations chronicle the passage of time in a memorable way. Reminiscent of picture books such as Virginia Lee Burton's The Little House (1942) and Lark Carrier's A Tree's Tale (1996).(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)