Wait Like a Seed

Written by Erin Alladin

Illustrated by Tara Anderson

Pajama Press 

978-1-77278-359-9

32 pp.

Ages 4–8 

March 2026  

 

Understanding life cycles, particularly of plants, can be a challenge for young children because of the extended time needed for a seed to progress through its stages. Kids may get the idea of a flower but knowing how a flower came to be and what it can produce is far more difficult. Using simple rhyming verses, bold words, and additional info pages, Erin Alladin leads young readers through the parts of a plant and how that plant can produce a new plant or hundreds.

From Wait Like a Seed, written by Erin Alladin, illustrated by Tara Anderson

The story is set up with text and a drawing of the seed or plant as it is developing opposite an illustration of the children, and occasional orange tabby, watching the plant grow. From a seed waiting for the spring rains to fall, through rooting, sprouting, and growing leaves, buds, flowers, and pods, the milkweed plant goes through its life cycle. 

Smile like a flower,

Giving and grand.

Smile like a flower

'Til the butterflies land. (pg. 14)

The children wait and watch and delight in what they get to witness over the seasons, from spring rains to winter dormancy. And because the monarch butterfly is tied to milkweed plants, children can also witness the development of eggs to larvae, to caterpillars and further. 

From Wait Like a Seed, written by Erin Alladin, illustrated by Tara Anderson

While I don't usually review paperback releases of previously published hard copy books, I never got to see Wait Like a Seed when it was released last year. And seeing this new edition, I really wanted to share Erin Alladin's latest. She has a lovely talent of telling stories, particularly those related to the natural world. (See her Outside You Notice, 2021.) By blending the life cycles of the milkweed and the monarch butterfly with the experiences of two young children, Erin Alladin gives us a personal story with which young children may be familiar. And with her rhyming text, she makes an educational book into a charming read with a tempo that balances with the pace of the plant's development.

From Wait Like a Seed, written by Erin Alladin, illustrated by Tara Anderson

But without Tara Anderson 's coloured pencil illustrations, Wait Like a Seed would not have the colour and shape to carry readers effortlessly through the milkweed's life stages. Instead of a book of non-fiction, Wait Like a Seed is the story of two playful children as they swing, pop milkweed pods, build a snowman, and play with their cat. She gives them joy and curiosity.

From Wait Like a Seed, written by Erin Alladin, illustrated by Tara Anderson

I know that teachers and parents will want to use Wait Like a Seed as a teaching tool for life cycles and the seasons, but don't forget the soft poetry that sweeps through the book. It tells its own story of imaginative and educational play, helping children to grow in their own way.

Now I See . . . board book series

Written by Mac Barnett

Illustrated by Jon Klassen

Tundra Books

24 pp.

Ages 2–5

April 2026 

 

There are only 35 words in the four board books in Mac Barnett and Jon Klassen's new series, Now I See. That's because each book has the same 35 words, in the same order, and describing almost the same things. What changes is what is happening to the people and places over the four different seasons, and that is communicated with the dramatic and yet straightforward artwork of Jon Klassen.

 

The four books are as follows:

 

Now I See Spring

978-1-77488-673-1

Now I See Summer

978-1-77488-677-9

 

 

 

 

Now I See Fall

978-1-77488-665-6

 

 

 

Now I See Winter

978-1-77488-669-4

 

 

 

 

In each book, a double-page spread focuses on an illustration of one element and then its identification. They are the house; the tree; the garden; me (shadow of a child on the side of a house); some birds; a treat (that's nice and sweet); the farm; the sky; the wise old cat; something red; and the perfect hat. The final text is a declaration that, "it's my favorite time of the year." But, in each book, each element is a little different. The tree might be leafing out in Now I See Spring, fully green in summer, losing its red leaves in the fall, and bare in the winter. Each season brings something different in where we live, what we wear, what we like to eat, and what we see. And they are all true.

From Now I See Spring, written by Mac Barnett, illustrated by Jon Klassen

Mac Barnett and Jon Klassen collaborate to produce extraordinary books. There's their Caldecott Honor books Extra Yarn (2012) and Sam and Dave Dig a Hole (2014)—Jon Klassen won the Caldecott Medal for his own This Is Not My Hat (2012)—and their Shape trilogy of Triangle (2017), Square (2018) and Circle (2019). The Now I See books equal these earlier books in their verve, teaching an important concept without instruction. They teach by helping children make observations and connect to that which they experience in their own lives. And, by reading all four books together, children will see how the seasons change and their reading of simple words, repeated in each book, will be reinforced.

From Now I See Winter, written by Mac Barnett, illustrated by Jon Klassen

Mac Barnett gets the text right by keeping the words simple—mostly articles and nouns—and giving them rhythm, though not necessarily rhyme. The text has a quiet pep to it, carrying the reader from one scene to another. And Jon Klassen's watercolour and digital art is the ideal medium for giving a lot in an unambiguous way. His lines and shapes give us the seasons with their distinctions, emphasizing both colour and shape to the familiar and perhaps less familiar. 

From Now I See Summer, written by Mac Barnett, illustrated by Jon Klassen

Exceptional concept books are those that do more than teach. They delight with their words, they charm with their artwork, and they engage readers by inviting them to be part of the story. Mac Barnett and Jon Klassen's Now I See series is fresh in its exceptionality.

The Cedar Mother (Mothers of Xsan)

Written by Hetxw'ms Gyetxw (Brett D. Huson)
Illustrated by Natasha Donovan
HighWater Press
978-1-77492-158-6
32 pp.
Ages 9–12

February 2026

 

Eight years ago, Hetxw'ms Gyetxw, who is also known as Brett D. Huson, started his Mothers of Xsan graphic novel series to share his knowledge of the stories of the Gitxsan Nation of the Northwest Interior of BC. This series, now of eight books, has covered insects, fish, birds, amphibians, and mammals, and now I'm delighted to share his book about the cedar tree. Not only does The Cedar Mother speak to the life cycle of a cedar tree and its connection with other living things, but Hetxw'ms Gyetxw also shares his knowledge of the Gitxsan Nation and their Moons.

From The Cedar Mother, written by Hetxw'ms Gyetxw, illustrated by Natasha Donovan

This story of the western red cedar begins in April and the Spring Salmon's Returning Home Moon (Lasa ya'a). This tree, which has been around for over 300 years, now sits by a road that was "only a trail used by the Gitxsan, who had never seen a car, wagon, or horse." (pg. 2) Its growth from a tiny seed is helped by nutrients, rain, and sun. (Words that might be new to young readers, including nutrients, foliage, photosynthesis, and reverence, are defined in info boxes throughout the book.) 

 

But Hetxw'ms Gyetxw also explains how Nox Sim Gan (the cedar mother) is connected to other organisms in the ecosystem. She provides shelter and feeds animals with foliage and oxygen. She gives materials to the Gitxsan for clothing, for home-building, for medicines and, at the end of her life cycle, she will become a story pole. Because of her persistence and vitality, "she is a beacon of hope and a symbol of the enduring strength of the natural world. (pg. 15)

From The Cedar Mother, written by Hetxw'ms Gyetxw, illustrated by Natasha Donovan

Hetxw'ms Gyetxw writes with reverence for Nox Sim Gan in The Cedar Mother and for the role she plays in the environment and for the Gitxsan Nation. From birth through death, she provides. And, because of this, Hetxw'ms Gyetxw gently reminds us that attention must be paid, and our stewardship is required so that she may continue to share herself with the earth and its living things. Not a boring life cycle story, The Cedar Mother tells us how a western red cedar is a part of something far greater. It is part of a community.

From The Cedar Mother, written by Hetxw'ms Gyetxw, illustrated by Natasha Donovan

Natasha Donovan, who illustrated the earlier books in Mothers of Xsan series and Tasha Spillett's Surviving the City series, takes readers into the forests where Nox Sim Gan grows and flourishes, giving and sharing. Its majesty is evident from the scale at which she draws it, and the benevolence of its presence is clear in all illustrations as it interacts with other species. Natasha Donovan keeps the focus on Nox Sim Gan always, whether at the base of its trunk or buried in its foliage, preserving the natural elements in earthy colours of browns and greens. With Natasha Donovan's illustrations and Hetxw'ms Gyetxw's occasional contributions of formline art (see the spirit pole above), as well as his text, The Cedar Mother is a respectful acknowledgement of the connection between the natural world and the Gitxsan, and the reverence necessary to appreciate and to sustain its place.

 • • • • • • •

 

Mothers of Xsan series

The Sockeye Mother (2018)

The Grizzly Mother (2019)

The Eagle Mother (2020)

The Frog Mother (2021)

The Wolf Mother (2021)

The Raven Mother (2022)

The Bee Mother (2024) 

The Cedar Mother (2026) 

Dad, Is It Time to Gather Mint?: Celebrating the Seasons

Written by Tyna Legault Taylor

Illustrated by Michelle Dao 

HighWater Press

978-1-774921227

36 pp.

Ages 5-8

May 2025 

 

A boy and his father walk the land through the seasons. With each season, there are new things to forage or fish or gather but always the child asks his Notawe/Baabaa, "Dad, is it time to gather mint?" That mint, a key component in his mother's teas, both cold and hot, drives this child to ask each time they head out to walk the land.

From Dad, Is It Time to Gather Mint?, written by Tyna Legault Taylor, illustrated by Michelle Dao

The text of Joshua's story is told in English but it is peppered with translations into Omushkegomowin, Swampy Cree, as well as Anishinaabemowin which is Ojibwe. As Joshua learns about the land and its plants and animals, so too do the readers in multiple languages.

 

Although Joshua would love for it to be summer (nipin in Swampy Cree, niibin in Ojibwe) when he can gather mint (katakipanik, gaaminomaagobagak in Swampy Cree and Ojibwe respectively), it is still fall when this story begins. His father (Notawe, Baabaa) reminds him that now it is a time of hunting, gathering Labrador tea (the plant), and fishing for whitefish.

From Dad, Is It Time to Gather Mint?, written by Tyna Legault Taylor, illustrated by Michelle Dao

As he and his father venture out into the season of winter, Joshua asks again and is reminded of those winter activities like snowshoeing, fishing for lake trout and herring, and gathering cedar branches for tea and for cleansing the indoor air. 

From Dad, Is It Time to Gather Mint?, written by Tyna Legault Taylor, illustrated by Michelle Dao

When winter turns to spring and the animals and the plants respond to the warming temperatures, Joshua is reminded that it is a time for hunting geese and gathering spruce buds and fishing for lake trout. Alas, it is still not time to gather the mint.

 

But when it finally is summer, Joshua rejoices, not just for the pickerel they'll fish and the sweetgrass, blueberries and cranberries they pick but for that much-anticipated walk with his father and the inevitable mint iced tea–recipe included–that his mother will share with the family.

From Dad, Is It Time to Gather Mint?, written by Tyna Legault Taylor, illustrated by Michelle Dao

There are many picture books about the seasons, but Tyna Legault Taylor's story has a richness of Indigenous heritage that makes it unique. Tyna Legault Taylor, a member of Attawapiskat First Nation, ensures a completeness of the year of seasons with the abundance of activities that Joshua and his dad enjoy together with the changing weather and circumstances. She brings us to Joshua's traditional lands in northeastern Ontario and to the culture of his Omushkego Cree and Anishinaabe family.

 

Michelle Dao, a Vietnamese Canadian illustrator, gives both a storytelling flavour and a non-fiction character to Dad, Is It Time to Gather Mint? Her digital artwork conveys the deep relationship between Joshua and his father, as well as the rest of the family, but also details the important elements that are hunted, fished, or gathered through the seasons.

 

Dad, Is It Time to Gather Mint? is but the first book in the Joshua Learns from the Land series, with the second book set to be released this October. For teachers of young students who are just learning the way seasons work, Dad, Is It Time to Gather Mint? would be a fabulous and sensitive introduction, with an Indigenous emphasis on language–two languages in fact–and traditional practices of hunting, fishing, gathering and more.

 

• • • • • • •

 

Joshua Learns from the Land

 

Dad, Is It Time to Gather Mint?: Celebrating the Seasons (May 2025)

Kokum, Are These Moose Tracks?: Celebrating Fall (October 2025)

Mom, Is It Time for the Spring Niska Feast?: Celebrating Spring (forthcoming)

The Pony and the Starling

 

Written by Jennifer McGrath

Illustrated by Kristina Jones

Groundwood Books

978-1-773069791

36 pp.

Ages 3-6

February 2025

 

Once you start reading The Pony and the Starling, you'll realize that this story is very personal for author Jennifer McGrath. While her earlier books–I've reviewed The Snow Knows, Pugs Cause Traffic Jams, and highly recommend her middle grade novels Chocolate River Rescue and White Cave Escape–have all suggested personal connections to places and characters, this one seems to have been written from the heart where I suspect the pony and a little starling still live.

From The Pony and the Starling, written by Jennifer McGrath, illustrated by Kristina Jones

A beautiful gray pony lives in a green pasture. A little girl cares for it, providing food and water, shelter and love, as well as visiting with the dog. 

From The Pony and the Starling, written by Jennifer McGrath, illustrated by Kristina Jones

When the fall comes, mother and child admire a murmuration of starlings as they create clouds of shapes that twist and turn. The starlings who enjoyed the fall bounty of peaches, grapes and tomatoes stay only for a few days before they take off. That is, all but one. One starling hangs around. Day after day it accompanies the pony as it snoozes and drinks water and enjoys the last of the autumnal warmth.

From The Pony and the Starling, written by Jennifer McGrath, illustrated by Kristina Jones

When a snowstorm hits and the pony is safely ushered into its small red barn, the child who had always encouraged the starling to seek out its "crowd" tries to get it to go inside with the pony. But the starling will not come down from the big old maple. When winter is finally fully upon them, blanketing the pasture and land with snow and frost, the pony is alone. 

 

When a new murmuration of starlings appears in the spring, they do not just grace the skies above. They sweep over the fields and engage the pony in their murmuration and leave a new friend–or is it an old friend?–behind.

 

Jennifer McGrath's own pony was the basis for this lovely picture book and you can tell the affection with which the story is told. But beyond her personal connection, Jennifer McGrath makes sure the story is infused with a sweet friendship, albeit an unusual one, and one that reminds us to see beyond the obvious. The child's mother is busy, with household chores, chopping wood, etc. and notices the little starling hanging out far later than the girl who observes the animals' connection and tries to help when the weather turns and puts the starling in danger. Her connection with her pony who is befriended by a starling encompasses both of them, extending her compassion and establishing a closeness beyond species.

I think you can tell from the illustrations and even the title that there is a tenderness to this picture book. BC's Kristina Jones's artwork, hand drawn and painted digitally, lends a warmth and sensitivity that verges on sadness. Her landscapes of expansive green pastures and stark winter scenes give us a sense of place through the seasons. But it's her characters that have the life. There's spirited movement and quiet togetherness, and that's just the pony and the starling. But Kristina Jones's illustrations of murmurations are fervent and evocative of the grandeur of nature.

The title of The Pony and the Starling suggests an innocent story but it's more than that. Jennifer McGrath and Kristina Jones have made us look at how animals can connect with each other and amaze us with their alliances and even bonds. I don't know how the true story of Jennifer McGrath's story resolved but I'm hopeful, as this fictionalized is, that there was a happy ending.

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.

Wild Trails to the Sea

 

Written by Penelope Jackson

 Illustrated by Elena Skoreyko Wagner

Nimbus Publishing

978-1-77471-273-3

32 pp.

Ages 4-8

April 2024

 

Wild Trails to the Sea is a reflection of parents who are hopeful for children to enjoy play in the natural worlds of shorelines, oceans, and forests but it reads like a love song to their children, to nature and all its elements, and to curiosity and exploration. 

From Wild Trails to the Sea, words by Penelope Jackson, art by Elena Skoreyko Wagner

The day begins with a mother carrying her young daughter and looking out the window at the dawn and hoping "the peepers always wake you a little too early." And then there are a multitude of days of outdoor play, with parents watching and interacting and showing and learning as their little ones explore wild areas. It's taking off your shoes to feel the sand and rocks beneath your feet. Or tasting spruce tips. Or leaping into freezing waves. It's going from spring when the first mayflower opens to the summer of bathing suits and hot sands, and then to fall when they "climb the tallest hill to watch whirls of colour tumbling toward the ocean" and winter to fling pebbles onto an icy pond. It's a full year and life in the outdoors for this family and these children, and one that will become a tradition for generations.

From Wild Trails to the Sea, words by Penelope Jackson, art by Elena Skoreyko Wagner

Halifax's Penelope Jackson has a story to tell, whether of her own childhood or that of other children. She tells it with an almost perceptible sigh of contentment and respect and awe. The natural world is one of wonder, one of extraordinary treasures to be appreciated. Penelope Jackson's text is written in free verse but it is still rhythmic without rhyming. Her words are cadenced, almost like a song, and it is a song of hopes for children to experience their natural worlds and for nature to be recognized and valued. And it is the promise that that wonder will extend beyond themselves.

I hope that when you are grown

and making pathways of your own

you still follow every salty wind...

and walk the wild trails to the sea.

That sensibility of Penelope Jackson's words is matched with Elena Skoreyko Wagner's collage art. With an eye to both colour and shape, Elena Skoreyko Wagner, originally from Nova Scotia and now of the UK, creates vignettes that are so textured that they seem almost tangible. Whether it's a child's hair being tossed by the wind, or the layers of spruce and pine tree branches in a forest, or smoke curling from a bonfire, Elena Skoreyko Wagner has found a way to bring a new dimensionality to the people and landscapes of Wild Trails to the Sea.

From Wild Trails to the Sea, words by Penelope Jackson, art by Elena Skoreyko Wagner

We may not all have access to a maritime location, but we all have opportunities to get out and play and discover. While Wild Trails to the Sea speaks to one family and the joy and experiential learning of outdoor play, it reminds us that there is much promise if we just open our eyes and take in our surroundings for more than just a backdrop to our structured and scheduled lives.

The Bee Mother (Mothers of Xsan, Book 7)

Written by Hetxw'ms Gyetxw (Brett D. Huson)

Illustrated by Natasha Donovan

HighWater Press

978-1-774920800

32 pp.

Ages 9-12

May 2024

Hetxw'ms Gyetxw (Brett D. Huson) and Natasha Donovan's latest volume in their illustrated non-fiction series, Mothers of Xsan, takes readers into the insect world for the first time, having previously highlighted mammals, birds, fish, and amphibians. Though the bee may be the smallest of the species showcased, it is no less significant.

From The Bee Mother, written by Hetxw'ms Gyetxw, illus. by Natasha Donovan

The story begins with the recession of winter and the awakening of the bee mother, Nox Ap. The bee mother first looks to make a new home in a burrow or hollow tree. Also making new homes for themselves are the yellow jacket wasps and introduced honeybees. With new moons, Nox Ap builds a nest and lays her eggs which pupate and emerge as worker bees to collect pollen and nectar to sustain the nest. And once pollination is done, the bumblebee queen, as well as those of the yellow jacket and honeybee, must find an overwintering space.  

 

As with all books in the series, the life cycle of the bee is paramount, but The Bee Mother goes beyond a compendium of natural history facts. It is a story, and it all takes place within the Gitxsan Nation, Indigenous Peoples of the unceded territories of the Northwest Interior of British Columbia. Hetxw'ms Gyetxw ensures that the reader understands that the bee mother's story is not one of isolation. It is a story that includes her connection with the environment and those within it. As such, Hetxw'ms Gyetxw speaks of the contributions of Nox Ap and the other bee relatives, from the provision of honey and the pollination of flowers to help provide fruits and vegetables, to pest control and providing food for other species. They are a part of everything.

From The Bee Mother, written by Hetxw'ms Gyetxw, illus. by Natasha Donovan

Hetxw'ms Gyetxw's text certainly speaks to life, as do Natasha Donovan's illustrations. They are vibrant, most especially in colour and shape. From the oomph of pinks and fullness of line and shape in the book's cover to the warmth of greens and golds in close-up art of the bees in their natural habitats, Natasha Donovan gives us stylized but realistic depictions of flowers and plants, bees and other animals, water and snow. Because the topic is the small bee, Natasha Donovan takes us up close to focus on the bee, creating art akin to macrophotography to ensure details are not missed.

From The Bee Mother, written by Hetxw'ms Gyetxw, illus. by Natasha Donovan

Because of the Indigenous roots of both the author and illustrator–Hetxw'ms Gyetxw is from the Gitxsan Nation and Natasha Donovan is Métis– The Bee Mother goes beyond a rehashing of STEM facts and takes on a new life of storytelling and appreciation for the connection of living things. In fact, because the Gitxsan Nation follows a matrilineal line which suggests that the stories come from the mothers, highlighting the mother of each species in the Mothers of Xsan series is both reasonable and respectful. (Hetxw'ms Gyetxw provides notes about the Gitxsan Nation and the Gitxsan Moons, along with a map of their territories.) And, by making the story specific and still broad, it demonstrates to readers  who the bee mother is and what she does and what happens every year, but also that she is part of something bigger. You can read it as a story of a life cycle but read beyond that and recognize that there is far more to the story that needs to be appreciated.

• • • • • • •

Mothers of Xsan series

The Sockeye Mother (2018)
The Grizzly Mother (2019)
The Eagle Mother (2020)
The Frog Mother (2021)
The Wolf Mother (2021)

The Raven Mother (2022)

The Bee Mother (2024)

The Old Oak Tree

Words by Hilary Briar

Music by Reid Briar

Art by Angela Doak

Nimbus Publishing

978-1-77471-199-6

24 pp.

Ages 3-7

April 2024

 

With the spring, children will bear witness to many elements in nature undergoing change that will both delight and surprise. They will see robins busily at work, building their nests and then tending to their young. There will be oak trees and other deciduous trees leafing out. There will be animals born and growing. And they will all converge intermittently. In Hilary Briar's story and lyrics, that point of converge is The Old Oak Tree.

From The Old Oak Tree, words by Hilary Briar, music by Reid Briar, illustrated by Angela Doak

Based on their song, The Old Oak Tree, Hilary Briar and Reid Briar give us a story of the life cycle of an old oak tree as it changes through the seasons and the lives it impacts. Told in rhyming verse, the life of a robin and oak tree are intertwined, reflecting what each experiences. If the robin is happy, so is the oak. When the robin is tender, so is the oak. If there is sweetness in the robin's life, so is there for the oak.

In her nest so cozy

The robin dreamed so sweet

That she woke up every morning

Singing tweet tweet tweet

In the old oak tree

The strong oak tree

The sweetest old oak

That you ever did see

From The Old Oak Tree, words by Hilary Briar, music by Reid Briar, illustrated by Angela Doak

As the seasons change and the animals that use the oak tree come and go, from a fawn, a raccoon, a fox and birds like the woodpecker and blue jay, both the robin and the tree deal with weather until a lightning strike takes down the old oak tree. And though there is sadness for the robin "to say goodbye to a friend so dear," that old oak tree still has life to offer. 

From The Old Oak Tree, words by Hilary Briar, music by Reid Briar, illustrated by Angela Doak

It is never too early for children to learn about life cycles of plants and animals, especially as that learning will help them understand our own life cycle. Still, the loss of a tree is always a tragedy. For a life force that gives so much to others in its environment, from shelter and food to mitigating deficiencies in physical surroundings, trees are still, like other living things, ephemeral. Even so, Nova Scotia's Hilary Briar's rhyming verses, put to music (appended to the story) by partner Reid Briar, blends the appreciation and heartache with hope. Even after the tree is no longer standing, it serves a significant role, perhaps a little different but important just the same.

Halifax's Angela Doak gives The Old Oak Tree an organic feel to the art through her collage work that blends fabric and found objects to give texture and depth. Just as the robin integrates grass and twigs, roots and moss, to construct an effective nest, Angela Doak combines a variety of materials, all of a realistic and natural colour palette, to create outdoor seasons that are both uncluttered and sophisticated. (See the austere scene in which the tree is struck by lightning but look deep into the multi-layered sky that evokes menace and light.)

From The Old Oak Tree, words by Hilary Briar, music by Reid Briar, illustrated by Angela Doak

Like the old oak tree that can do it all, The Old Oak Tree story, with its rhyming verses, music, and art is a fine package of lessons about the circle of life and the interrelationships of living things. These are lessons that are broad and far-reaching but delicate when taken down to the level of one tree which will help children see beyond the forest and deeply into it.

Sometimes I Feel Like an Oak

Written by Danielle Daniel

Illustrated by Jackie Traverse

Groundwood Books

978-1-77306-698-1

32 pp.

Ages 3+

April 2024

On Earth Day, I often like to review a book that speaks to me of the natural world and particularly our relationship with the environment. Too often, it's about our negative impact on the earth which, unfortunately, has had to take the brunt of poor choices with regards to overdevelopment, pollution, and burning of fossil fuels, just to name a few. With those choices have come deforestation and loss of habitat and species diversity, and global warming. We know all that, so today let's celebrate trees and what they mean to us by luxuriating in their diversity and their power. 

From Sometimes I Feel Like an Oak, written by Danielle Daniel, illustrated by Jackie Traverse

Danielle Daniel, author of Sometimes I Feel Like a Fox (2015) and Sometimes I Feel Like a River (2023), reminds us that we are not dissimilar to the living things outside of ourselves. Trees, like us, have life, reproduce, grow and heal, survive and support. They have their own personalities–should that be phytoalities?–that reflect everything from generosity to sensitivity, daring and resilience. With each tree highlighted, Danielle Daniel offers a poem about what a child feels and how it is expressed by each type of tree.

From Sometimes I Feel Like an Oak, written by Danielle Daniel, illustrated by Jackie Traverse

The first child feels like a maple, full and generous with the sap it shares. Still in winter, another child compares themselves to a birch with its peeling bark that brings hope. As we head into spring and then summer, there are cherry trees, cedars, aspens, spruce, and willows. Coming through all the seasons Danielle Daniel ends with the redwood, the ash, tamarack, oak, and pine. 

Sometimes I feel like a pine,

calm, still and gentle.

My branches cradle fresh-fallen snow,

filling me with peace.

From Sometimes I Feel Like an Oak, written by Danielle Daniel, illustrated by Jackie Traverse

Sometimes I Feel Like an Oak may be a contemplative picture book about making connections between trees and feelings, told through verse, but it feels like literary forest bathing. (Check out some online videos for examples of this practice.) Danielle Daniel reminds us that trees are living and show us the best ways we can live, by being courageous and peaceful, optimistic and strong. She speaks of her Algonquin ancestors who appreciated trees as "sentient beings with spirits who can feel things." For those who are empathetic to the feelings of non-human entities, Sometimes I Feel Like an Oak validates our connection with other living things, and perhaps even some non-living things, and Danielle Daniel shows us why we might be making those connections. (Personally, I have always felt a kinship with cedars and Danielle Daniel's poem helps me see why, especially as a child reads beneath the tree's limbs.)

 

Jackie Traverse, who is Ojibway from Lake St. Martin First Nation, uses her acrylic and gouache art to project the Indigenous backgrounds of both author and artist. There are dots that are reminiscent of beadwork, and swirls of lines hinting at a Woodland basis, but Jackie Traverse's illustrations are not wholly of any one style. Her art reflects her heritage, and that of Danielle Daniel, but it is also completely her own, blending realism with that heritage. Each tree is distinct in foliage and stature, bark and morphology, but Jackie Traverse gives us more with her children, the landscapes, and the spirit in the art.

From Sometimes I Feel Like an Oak, written by Danielle Daniel, illustrated by Jackie Traverse

On this Earth Day, let's celebrate our connections with the natural world, and particularly trees, with Danielle Daniel and Jackie Traverse's Sometimes I Feel Like an Oak. You'll feel better for having done so.