Customer Reviews

Oak Tree

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Gordon Morrison's "Oak Tree" tells a simple story. It opens with an oak tree reviving and putting out buds in springtime. Morrison follows the majestic tree through all the seasons of the year, and depicts the diverse community of animals that live in and around it: the mourning cloak butterfly, red-tailed hawk, downy woodpecker, gray squirrel, honeybees, skunks, tree crickets, gray tree frog, and more.

This elegant but earthy book is packed full of nature facts. The beautiful illustrations are rich in detail. It seems to me that Morrison has a deep reverence for nature; such a reverence is communicated to me through this wonderful book. If you've never had the urge to hug a tree before, you just might want to do so after reading "Oak Tree."

Gordon Morrison has produced a fine book in "Oak Tree." With a single oak tree as the central 'character' of the book, he explores the life cycle of the tree through the cycle of seasons and over the lifetime of the tree. By including critters that live in, around, on and under the tree, a window into the ecological impact of trees is subtly gained. The book is easy enough to digest for the early elementary student (perhaps as a read-aloud), but the depth of material and beautiful pencil studies will interest any naturalist.

As an artist by profession, I often choose books for my children based on the quality of the art and that is what first led me to this book. Morrison's watercolor illustrations are not cartoonish or child-like in any way - they simply and accurate depict his subjects. As a homeschooling mother, I pick this book up over and over again when discussing life cycles, seasons, food webs, habitats, teaching art and simply for enjoyable reading (sometimes when the kids aren't around).

I loved this book so much, I just order "Pond" also by Gordon Miller and I am not disappointed.