How Does a Tree Become a Tree? - Joshua Goodson - ★★★.½

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AUTHOR: Joshua Goodson

GENRE: Children's Picture Book, Nonficton, Nature.
RATING: 3.5 stars.

A simple enough book that explains to children how a tree comes into being.

The process is explained in easy words, right from a seed falling off a tree and going all the way till the new tree sends off its own seeds into the world. There are some things that go beyond what was essential, such as the tree being our friend, and the word for a group of trees. But there were also some concepts that I had expected to be a part of the book but weren’t, such as the development of flowers and fruits, and the importance of trees in nature. (It goes so much beyond ‘providing shade for picnics.’)

The language is easy and the illustrations bright and sweet, both thus being suitable for pre-K readers.

The cover art reminded me of the cover of Shel Silverstein’s The Giving Tree, a book that I had loved in my childhood but have strong mixed feelings about now. Thankfully, the content in this book is not similar.

I just couldn’t figure out why the lion had to be in the book! It was funny but also weird.

All in all, a nice book that works decently for younger children. It’s a bit too short and too simplistic for slightly older age groups. The final copy needs a round of proofreading.

(As this is already published long back, I am not sure if the ARC I received is the same as the published version. But my copy had pagesetting and proofing errors.)

My thanks to BookBuzz.net and NetGalley for the DRC of “How Does A Tree Become A Tree?” This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.

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