The Money Tree

by Sarah Stewart, David Small (Illustrator)

Overview

In The Money Tree, Caldecott Honor-winning writer/artist team Sarah Stewart and David Small reveal the true root of happiness for an independent woman content with the little things in life in this beautifully illustrated children's picture book.

Miss McGillicuddy's simple country routine involves taking care of her pets and garden, and enjoying such pleasures as reading and quilting.

Then one day, she discovers a very unusual tree growing in her yard—one with leaves that appear to be bills of money. As she shares the fruits of this bounty with her neighbors, their increasing greed leads to a year where folks just can't get enough cash, disrupting her quiet life.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780374452957
Publisher:	Square Fish
Publication date:	04/01/1994
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	40
Sales rank:	662,187
Product dimensions:	8.01(w) x 10.08(h) x 0.25(d)
Lexile:	AD900L (what's this?)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Husband and wife duo Sarah Stewart and David Small have worked together on several picture books, including The Gardener, a Caldecott Honor book available from Square Fish. Small has also illustrated other books, including the 2001 Caldecott Medal winner So You Want to Be President?, by Judith St. George. Stewart and Small live in a historic home on a bend of the St. Joseph River in Michigan.

Reading Group Guide

Discussion/Activities for The Money Tree
What does the title page suggest about the setting of the book?
The book begins in January, when it is cold outside and snow is on the ground. Study the picture on the first page of the story. What are
Miss McGillicuddy's wintertime activities?
Discuss how her activities change with each month of the year.
Miss McGillicuddy has a May Day celebration for the children who live near her farm. She gives each of them money from the money tree. Count the children who come to Miss
McGillicuddy's party. If she gives each of them five one-dollar bills, how much money does she give away?
Make a money tree for the classroom. Have students make one-dollar, five-dollar, and tendollar bills to attach to the tree. Divide the class into small groups and ask each group to create a math problem using the money tree.
In July, town officials ask Miss McGillicuddy if they can take money from the tree for some special projects. Brainstorm ways the community might use the money (e.g., a public swimming pool, a park or playground for children). Divide the class into groups, and ask each group to select a project to present to
Miss McGillicuddy. Instruct them to provide an artistic rendering of the project, and offer an oral sales pitch.
Ask students to write a thank-you note to Miss
McGillicuddy from the mayor of the town. The note should include a description of the community project that the money funded.
Discuss why Miss McGillicuddy is never interested in the money for herself. Why is she relieved when the leaves on the money tree turn yellow and brown? How is her life better when she cuts down the tree? What does the tree offer Miss McGillicuddy that it doesn't provide anyone else?

Editorial Reviews

Charming and detailed illustrations portray a strong, independent woman whose life is graceful and meaningful.” —The Horn Book

“A picture book for all seasons.” —Starred, Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

From the Publisher

PW praised Small's ``evocative, pastel-filled watercolors,'' adding that the story of Miss McGillicuddy, her garden and her greedy neighbors ``will raise worthwhile questions for both children and adults.'' Ages 5-8. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

PreS-Gr 3-- In January Miss McGillicuddy notices a strange tree in her yard. Month by month, as the seasons change, it grows, faster than any normal plant, into a money tree. Friends, then neighbors, then strangers, then a crowd, ``surging back and forth,'' come to pluck its leaves. Each page recounts, in two sentences of restrained text, Miss McGillicuddy's seasonal activities and her observations of the tree and its changes. The illustrations in pale watercolors show the woman as tall, willowy, and faintly old-fashioned. She's a little out of touch with the times perhaps, but obviously at home with her own life and therefore attractive and pleasing. She is usually placed to the side of the picture, pausing in her activity to observe the tree, which is not always seen by readers. This enhances the sense of Miss McGillicuddy as an observer. The only double-page spread shows the crowds scrambling for the money leaves. It is done with black silhouettes against a dark blue and purple sky, separating it pictorially from the pale orderly pictures of Miss McGillicuddy's world. This quirky little story has charm, but it is perhaps too quiet and the woman too passive an observer for most children. She seems so cool and remote from the tree and the greedy crowds that when she takes action and cuts it up for firewood, the sense of completion and problem solved is diffused. Nevertheless, although not wildly ironic like Heide's Treehorn's Treasure (Holiday, 1981), this book, in a quiet way, makes a definite statement about the foibles of humankind. --Karen James, Louisville Free Public Library, KY

School Library Journal

As each month unfolds, Miss McGillicuddy has a purposeful task—quilt-making, reading, picking cherries, or feeding animals. All the while, she observes each new and remarkable development in her yard. This year a tree of unusual shape and speedy growth appears and attracts guests of all description. What is growing on the tree, and how will Miss McGillicuddy's year end? Randye Kaye's voice floats above the serene background music and sound effects. Her cadence is gentle and measured, mirroring the observant main character. The slow pace provides thinking time for both listeners and Miss McGillicuddy herself as they ponder the various changes in nature that take place over the course of this extraordinary year. A.R. © AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine

DEC 07/JAN 08 - AudioFile