Book Review: The Things That I Love about Trees

Children living in Pennsylvania are lucky enough to see beautiful trees growing all around them. The landscape is filled with sugar maple, black cherry, aspen, birch, hemlock, and ash. In fact, Pennsylvania has over 100 native tree species. But probably one of the most beautiful parts of a tree is observing how it changes from season to season.

If you are looking for a great non-fiction children's book about trees that does just that, I will recommend Things That I Love about Trees, by Chris Butterworth and illustrated by Charlotte Voake. Chris Butterworth is the author of three other illustrated books, and Charlotte Voake was awarded the New York Times Book Review Best Illustrated Children's Book of the Year. The Things That I Love about Trees is a 32-page book that explains the process of the year-round adventure that trees go through with captivating ink and watercolor images. The book brings to life the journey of each season and enables the reader to discover just how much there is to love about trees.

It begins with the season of spring by explaining the new buds. Then it moves on to summer with the glorious green leaves and whooshing wind. Next, it shares the beautiful fall colors of the leaves and ends with winter's branches and bark. The explanation of each season allows the book to be kept out on the shelf to be read at any time of the year. There is always something to notice about trees and how they react to a changing environment.

The book is perfect for younger readers by providing larger text for the story and is great for older readers with additional fun facts in smaller text. The text also engages the reader's senses by explaining the colors that can be seen, the feel of temperature in various kinds of weather and seasons, what to listen for, and what the leaves and bark feel like. Because the layout consists of images, text, and white space, the reader is not overwhelmed and can decide what to focus on. The book is inviting and encouraging to young minds who can easily become fascinated by trees. Readers can also take advantage of the front panel that identifies and labels tree leaves and the activity page at the end that inspires children to go beyond the book and learn all the things you can do with trees.

I highly recommend The Things That I Love about Trees for your children. It will warmly introduce them to the life cycle of trees throughout the seasons.