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When I featured David L. Harrison’s THE DIRT BOOK (also marvelously illustrated by Kate Cosgrove) back in 2021, I didn’t know he was going to follow up with another title focusing on the natural world, this time above ground. But I’m thrilled that he did!
A TREE IS A COMMUNITY delivers poems bursting with juicy verbs, sensory details, and playful humor—poems that delight and convey an enthusiasm for the miracle that is our natural world. Cosgrove’s vibrant illustrations are infused with energy and motion to match.
When I first read through these poems, I was immediately struck by the idea of turning this book into readers’ theater in the classroom, acting out each poem as a scene with fun props. I think it could be fabulous!
Here’s the first poem:
Feel the energy in those lines? The beginnings of new life.
And the next:
The energy flows along with the rain. And the humor in “Wake up, you lazy roots!” is sure to bring on giggles, along with the thirsty roots’ response.
This book vibrates with active verbs, personification, and onomatopoeia. Words like DAZZLE, POP, BUZZ, SPLUSH, SCURRY, TOTE, FLIP, CRACK, DASH, CROUCH, BOOM…..The poems progress through a host of critters living in and around trees through all four seasons, spending a large portion on spring before using one spread to depict Summer, Fall, and Winter, before Spring “comes greening back…” and “frogs no bigger/than a hiccup…FILL UP the night/with their PICK ME songs.”
Can’t you just hear it?! Feel it? See it! And then the poems zoom in on the tree and its “business” of breathing (and in doing so providing oxygen for us to breathe) and holding onto soil and dropping seeds…
The poem that closes the book takes the reader full circle. So satisfying.
Notice that the pages are numbered, unusual for a picture book, but purposeful here. The back end papers include a brief note about our relationship to trees, a bibliography, and an index that lists specific pages where animals or ecosystem-related terms can be found.
If you’re doing a fun poetry or nature unit or just want to encourage your budding naturalist to go tromping (or tiptoeing) through the garden, park, or woods, I highly recommend this book (and THE DIRT BOOK)!
Activities:
Act out the poems as a readers’ theater, creating and using props that are inspired by each poem.
Pair this book with THE DIRT BOOK. Discuss how the two books are similar and different.
Check out Harrison’s page for suggested writing prompts and inspiration.
Create your own ecosystem or trees, using crafts from Project Learning Tree for inspiration.
Title: A Tree is a Community
Author: David L. Harrison
Illustrator: Kate Cosgrove
Publisher: Holiday House, 2024
Themes: Trees, ecosystems, nature
Ages: PreK through elementary school
For more perfect picture book recommendations, please visit Susanna Hill’s website.