Calvin the Christmas Tree - Stephen G. Bowling - ★★★★.½

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AUTHOR: Stephen G. Bowling
ILLUSTRATOR: Vitali Dudarenka
GENRE: Children's Picture Book
PUBLICATION DATE: December 8, 2019
RATING: 4.5 stars.


Calvin, a little Christmas tree, isn't chosen by anyone. but somehow, circumstances change and he soon fulfils his destiny.

The story is really sweet. You have a whole variety of tree characters. In a way, it is analogous to a small child being picked on at school until he/she discovers that what lies inside is more important than size. This is a really cute Christmas story and something the children will surely enjoy.

I am actually against real Christmas trees being cut every year and then thrown into the woodchipper after the festive season. So I was a bit apprehensive about this book as I didn't want anything that encourages tree cutting. But to my pleasant surprise, the book does two things right:

1. It does not mention the trees being chopped. Rather, it shows the tree's root balls being packed with earth in a burlap sack. (okay, this is just shown in the illustrations and not actually written, but it is still admirable.)

2. Rather than keeping the tree inside the house only for Christmas, the tree is shown as being planted and lasting for multiple Christmases.

I really appreciate these two factors from the author because they do go to show kids how our festivals mustn't include senseless short-term thinking and destruction of nature.

The illustrations of the trees are really wonderful but I wish the farmer and his wife were drawn a little more naturally. The farmer's wife looks more like a supermodel than someone who works hard on the farm.

Overall though, a wonderful story with a wonderful learning.

I received an advance review copy of the book for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

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