Redwoods
On his bench in the 14th Street Station of the New York City Subway, a dark-haired young boy spots a book called Redwoods. (Intriguingly, the cover of the book he finds appears to be the same as the actual book,Redwoods, with the selfsame boy on the cover. Odd.) He picks it up and starts to read. As the boy heads for the just-arrived F train, he reads, "The coast redwoods are among the oldest trees in the world." Sitting on the bench in the subway car, he reads, "Their ancestors lived about 165 million years ago, during the Jurassic period." Behind him, out the window, you will note the three long-necked dinosaurs, one of which seems to be peering in the car. As he becomes literally immersed in the book, everything appears to come to life around him. Reading that there are trees alive today that have been around since the Roman Empire, he doesn't seem to notice the two men, one in a toga and one in full Roman armor, flanking his seat. He emerges from the subway and looks up in amazement: there are massive redwoods everywhere instead of city streets. He's sure not in Manhattan anymore.
Themes : BOOKS AND READING. NATURE. IMAGINATION.
CRITICS HAVE SAID
- This inventive story will charm and educate readers and send their imaginations soaring.
School Library Journal
IF YOU LOVE THIS BOOK, THEN TRY:
Aston, Dianna. A Seed Is Sleepy. Chronicle, 2007.
Bash, Barbara. In the Heart of the Village: The World of the Indian Banyan Tree. Sierra Club Books, 1996.
Behn, Harry. Trees. Henry Holt, 1992.
Cherry, Lynne. The Great Kapok Tree: A Tale of the Amazon Rain Forest. Harcourt, 1990.
Florczak, Robert. Yikes!!! Scholastic, 2003.
George, Kristine O’Connell. Old Elm Speaks: Tree Poems. Clarion, 1998.
Guiberson, Brenda Z. Life in the Boreal Forest. Henry Holt, 2009.
Kudlinski, Kathleen V. What Do Roots Do? NorthWord, 2005.
Nivola, Claire A. Planting the Trees of Kenya: The Story of Wangari Maathai. Farrar, 2008.
Pfeffer, Wendy. A Log’s Life. Simon & Schuster, 1997.
Winter, Jeanette. Wangari’s Trees of Peace: A True Story from Africa. Harcourt, 2008.