The Comfort Tree

Written and illustrated by Holly Carr

Plumleaf Press

978-1-738165230

48 pp.

Ages 4-8

August 2024

 

For many people, a tree is just a tree. It's a woody plant that reaches above the ground. Sometimes it's green and sometimes it's not. But trees are so much more than just what we see. They are life. And this tree is a comfort tree to the many species that make the forest their home.

From The Comfort Tree, written and illustrated by Holly Carr

This tree is an oak and so it begins life as an acorn, dropped from the bill of a blue jay. It grows until it towers over the forest and is named the Comfort Tree by the forest animals.

From The Comfort Tree, written and illustrated by Holly Carr

For each animal, the tree provides comfort, whether for its views for Raven or its food and storage facilities for Squirrel. In different seasons, the tree provides shelter whether for Lynx who rests on the tree's limbs or in its fallen leaves like Rabbit and Deer. For some, its comfort derives from the aesthetic, Fox appreciating its fall leaves that match its fur or Blue Jays that enjoy playing in its branches. The Comfort Tree provides for all the animals in its own way throughout the year.

From The Comfort Tree, written and illustrated by Holly Carr

Holly Carr, an artist from Nova Scotia, is best known for her painting on silk, a unique medium that produces fabulous forms when paint is applied. Holly Carr's art in The Comfort Tree is extraordinary, intricate and textured, emulating the layers of leaves whether in the tree or in the litter beneath it, or the complexity of animal features like feathers. The patterning of tree and animal and scene require more than a cursory look. They demand the reader stop and look for the bees, the fungi, the butterflies, and more. Her art tells a story of a comfort but also of life cycles, the seasons, and the interrelationships of all living things. It's a big story. Holly Carr's remarkable art matches that story, page for page.

From The Comfort Tree, written and illustrated by Holly Carr

The story of the Comfort Tree goes beyond the forest, with Holly Carr starting dialogues about ways for children to comfort themselves. She acknowledges that there are different strategies, including breathing, going into nature, and stretching, that can all be helpful. (She provides QR codes to activities to help young people to stretch or to visit a forest and listen to Nova Scotian birds.) But first try a walk to the Comfort Tree with Raven, Blue Jay, Deer, Owl, and others to find comfort vicariously. It's as wonderful as forest bathing in vivid colours and the soothing shapes of the natural world, and you don't need to find transport to get there.