Be Thankful for Trees: A tribute to the many & surprising ways trees relate to our lives

by Harriet Ziefert, Brian Fitzgerald (Illustrator)

Overview

Using lilting, rhyming couplets, this beautiful book explores the many items that are made from trees.

But it doesn’t stop there! Kids will also learn about the many uses of live trees – and the environmental danger to trees posed by forest fires, floods, and deforestation.

Kids are encouraged to be kind, not only to one another, but to the environment as well. They will view their backyards and parks in a whole new light after going on an arboreal eco-tour in this gorgeous paean to trees.

This book is printed on responsibly sourced, 100% recycled FSC paper.

What gives you a seat, a floor for your feet?
A place you can sit with your family to eat?
The pum-pum of a drum, a guitar’s twangy strum . . .
Tree wood makes music zing, ping, and hum.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781636550206
Publisher:	Red Comet Press
Publication date:	03/29/2022
Pages:	80
Product dimensions:	7.75(w) x 10.25(h) x 0.50(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

HARRIET ZIEFERT is a former elementary school teacher from North Bergen, New Jersey. A graduate of Smith College, she also holds an MA in Education from NYU. She is the bestselling author of more than 250 children’s books and has developed easy-to-read series for several major publishing houses. As founder of Blue Apple Books, she has published over 500 titles, many of which have become best-selling modern classics. Harriet Ziefert continues to create and publish books from her home, where she now lives, in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, where she is surrounded by trees. BRIAN FITZGERALD is an internationally recognized, award-winning illustrator of children's books. He is a graduate of Ireland's National College of Art and Design and has also worked on publishing, editorial, and design projects. Brian Fitzgerald lives and works in Dún Laoghaire, Dublin.

Table of Contents

• 1. A tree is food.
  2. A tree is comfort.
  3. A tree is music.
  4. A tree is art.
  5. A tree is fun.
  6. A tree is home.
  7. A tree is life

Editorial Reviews

California Eureka Book Award - Silver Honor

"Narrated in rhyming couplets that scan well, this book manages to pack a lot of thought-provoking concepts into a short format in a cohesive, engaging way. Fitzgerald's colorful, stylized digital illustrations brim with outdoorsy charm and highlight the many beautiful textures and grain patterns of trees barks and cut wood. Arboreal adoration that will indeed leave readers feeling thankful for our wooded world." – Kirkus Reviews

"Via jaunty rhyming tributes, Ziefert offers up plentiful reason to be grateful for trees. . . make(s) for an upbeat read aloud. Fitzgerald''s confident digital illustrations embrace Ziefert's vision simply. . . the books' overall focus is more squarely on the essential, overlooked roles that trees play." – Publisher's Weekly

"Cheerful couplets and repetitive phrases, excellent for reading aloud, explain how trees serve as food, comfort, music, and more. Fitzgerald's colorful illustrations depict diverse humans of varying skin tones enjoying a range of activities, as well as numerous animals and ecosystems thriving, all made possible by trees. . . this celebratory ode that encourages readers to explore and appreciate nature is a welcome addition to most collections." – School Library Journal

"I think this might be my favorite kids books about trees ever. There's a million gorgeous textbook-like non fiction reads that go deep into the nitty gritty biology behind forests and trees, but how many simply highlight their role in our everyday lives? I love that this shows how trees unite us all from sports lovers to book worms and so many in between, really driving home that preserving our forests really is an every human issue. This is a beautiful light hearted reminder of how dependent we are on trees and how vital it is that we consider our impact on Earth continuing forward." –KidsLitIsLit

Ziefert's informative, rhyming text is sure to keep readers engaged throughout as well as prompt fruitful discussions and STEM lessons after the book is complete. Fitzgerald's colorful, digital illustrations portray diverse individuals reveling in nature and joyfully captures the beauty of nature. . . . A spectacular story for budding scientists, environmentalists, and nature lovers." – Olivia the Librarian

"This book is a wonderful way to begin conversations about nature and the importance of trees with young children."–Children's Literature

“This engaging rhyming text teaches children all about the ways trees are important to our lives. . . This would be a wonderful book to read aloud to young children as they learn how essential trees are to life and that we need to do to protect them from man-made destruction. The illustrations and simple text encourage children to appreciate what trees provide for us and will likely stimulate lively discussion as the book is read aloud.” Recommended. –School Library Connection

From the Publisher

2022-01-12
What’s so great about trees?

Everything, according to this picture-book tribute to our green companions. Using just a few words on each double-page spread, Ziefert enumerates the many environmental, social, culinary, and aesthetic contributions that trees make to the world. Firstly, trees nourish humans and animals with food; several pages of artwork show people picking pecans and tapping syrup and animals nibbling on leaves, nuts, and berries. Trees also provide comfort; readers are given a tour of the many wooden objects found in our homes, such as “a floor for your feet,” comfy chairs, a baby’s cradle, and more. In this fashion, the book moves through items made from trees that are used in the spheres of music, art, and recreation before ending with a look at the ways trees provide homes for animals and a clarion call for protecting trees as air purifiers and vital sustainers of human life. Narrated in rhyming couplets that scan well, this book manages to pack a lot of thought-provoking concepts into a short format in a cohesive, engaging way. Fitzgerald’s colorful, stylized digital illustrations brim with outdoorsy charm and highlight the many beautiful textures and grain patterns of tree barks and cut wood. The ensemble cast is diverse in race, skin tone, hair color, hair texture, and age.

Arboreal adoration that will indeed leave readers feeling thankful for our wooded world. (Informational picture book. 4-8)

Kirkus Reviews