Archive | March 6, 2018

The Things That I LOVE about TREES

The Things That I LOVE about TREES

The Things That I LOVE about TREES

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Things That I LOVE about TREES

Chris Butterworth

Charlotte Voake

Walker Books, 2018

32pp., hbk.,  RRP $A24.99

9781406349405

There is much to love about trees – apart from their life-giving oxygen.  The In spring they are pretty with their new green leaves and buds like beads; in summer they are so shady and the sound of the wind in their leaves is like the swish of the sea; in autumn they are so colourful; and in winter when their branches are bare you can lean on the trunk and look up to the sky.

This early readers’ non fiction book traces a plum tree through its seasonal changes combining a narrative with facts about trees and beautiful water-colour illustrations.  Even though it is English, Australian trees follow a similar cycle and it is the perfect time to start an individual or class tree diary selecting a deciduous playground tree and using photographs and texts to trace its changes as the seasons change and learn not only what the changes happen and why but also to discover that their is beauty in all its aspects, even those bare winter branches.  The author has placed an emphasis on exploring how the changes can engage all the senses so this is also an opportunity to challenge students to engage theirs – to become more observant and notice detail, perhaps even to branch into creating similes and metaphors.

Comparisons could also be made with a eucalypt or other evergreen to discover if they really do stay the same throughout the year or whether, they too, have their own cycle of change including tracking the creatures that seek shelter in them, perhaps even setting up investigations into other life cycles and interdependence.  

Trees really are the perfect plants and there are so many things to love about them.