Customer Reviews

The Inside Tree

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Very entertaining book with lessons on shyness, not liking what you don't understand, and a giving heart. Pictures were entertaining and question-provoking. Excellent book.

My 3 year old daughter and I really enjoy this non traditional book. Fun ideas, sweet themes, and nice illustrations.

Mr. Potter lives quite happily inside his cozy and comfortable house. There's just one problem. The tree in the yard is stuck outside and cannot enjoy his pleasant world. No matter. Mr. Potter knows what to do. This tree must come indoors. He replants the tree in a hole through the floor. When the tree grows and begins to hit the ceiling and windows, he cuts another hole in the roof. Mr. Potter doesn't realize. He didn't just bring a tree into his house. He brought inside the OUTSIDE world.

Through the hole in the roof, whippoorwills, magpies, robins, and blackbirds fly to join the tree. The ceiling can no longer keep out the rain. Roots, seeds, and vines begin to spread out. It doesn't take long; four walls are no match. The house soon falls, "crashing to the ground." Needless to say, Mr. Potter and his dog are forced to move.

Yes, problems do occur because Mr. Potter tries to plant a tree indoors. However, as he learns not everything appreciates the cozy inside, themes go far beyond Mr. Potter's tiny yard. Mankind may build and try to enforce its conformity. The man-made inside offers many cozy and comfortable benefits, but the natural world grows and changes. Life will not be contained.

I bought this book and read it to my daughters, ages 4 and 6, and they loved it. So did I. It is very funny, even for me, with a sweetness to it as well. The paintings are lovely and detailed (my girls especially loved all the birds). I use the library for a lot of our books, but I buy a few really nice picture books now and then to put on our shelves and read over and over. I can tell that this is a book we will happily read together many, many more times.

The story is cute until the part where the house falls apart, presumably crushing to death the baby birds and other creatures living inside. This isn't explicitly stated but they aren't mentioned again, or pictured escaping from the rubble, so we are left to assume the worst. Sensitive children will be horrified. :( Also, the cow isn't allowed to come inside the barn at the end of the story. Aren't barns intended for livestock in the first place? A disappointing execution of what could have been a delightful tale.