Everybody Knows What a Tree Is

K-Gr 3–A quartet of children—girl in a hijab, Asian boy, Black girl in braids, and bespectacled boy with tan skin—ponder the uses and capabilities of a tree one sunny afternoon. What is clear is that the tree serves many purposes for people and animals—an object to climb, a material source, and a place to live, to name a few. Less clear is whether or not trees can sense the world around them, and the children ask themselves many questions to this end. Can trees feel the wind, sun, rain, and thunder as the weather changes? Are trees able to talk to one another through their roots? Do trees begin to worry when the soil feels too dry? The narrative, told mostly through the children’s dialogue with one another, moves from the enumeration of facts to the more abstract wonder of what a tree could feel, sense, or do. There is a brief departure from the children’s musings to explore the perspective of the animals and insects that call the tree home. While this work will inspire important conversations among young readers about perspective and wonder, it lacks a clear identity. The exploration of tree facts and functions juxtaposed with the more philosophical speculation seem like two distinct stories with differing aims patched together. Ali’s illustrations of nature are whimsical and vibrant, but the depiction of the children lacks finesse.