Customer Reviews

Regarding the Trees: A Splintered Saga Rooted in Secrets

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

 

 

Mr. Russ, the principal of Geyser Creek Middle School, is scheduled for an evaluation, which sets his nerves on edge. Hoping for a positive review so he can keep his job, Mr. Russ decides that the trees scattered across the school grounds desperately need a trimming to look their best. So he calls on Ms. Florence Waters, the multi-talented woman who recently had installed a new fountain for the school. Even though she lives all the way over in California, she feels delighted to help out her old friends again. While they work out the details of the job, a slight misunderstanding leads Ms. Waters to believe that Mr. Russ is proposing marriage, when in fact that's the last thing on his mind!

Meanwhile, the new middle school's Italian chef is causing quite a stir in town as well. He and the town's café owner, Angel Fisch, are bashing heads on who is the better cook. Their feud soon spreads to include the entire town, dividing the population down the gender line, boys versus girls. Ms. Fisch suggests the obvious solution of a cooking contest, and everyone agrees --- but then someone steals the favorite recipe from both! Who is the culprit?

Meanwhile, some of the students are very upset with Mr. Russ deciding not only to prune the giant willow on the school grounds, but also to remove it entirely. Minnie O. starts up a protest to save all the trees. During her campaign, she learns about an old Geyser Creek club who called themselves The Maids of May, dedicated to saving and planting trees all over the world. Through The Maids of May meeting minutes, Minnie O. discovers some very interesting facts about Geyser Creek and her inhabitants.

REGARDING THE TREES is an ingenious story filled with hilarious puns and misunderstandings. The entire book is a collection of newspaper articles, letters, phone messages, faxes, meeting minutes, and a video transcript. Also sprinkled in are tiny Italian lessons and helpful hints on how to plant trees, and how to explore and construct a family tree. The author and illustrator, Kate Klise and M. Sarah Klise, have done an awesome job with this unusual series, and fans can look forward to REGARDING THE BATHROOMS: A Privy to the Past.

--- Reviewed by Chris Shanley-Dillman, author

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Though I am well above the 9-12 age group written on the back, I still very much enjoyed this book. Walter Russ, Principal of Geyser Creek Middle School, has a problem. The society of principals are coming to his school to evaluate EVERYTHING! Including the trees. The trees are a wreck and are in dire need of trimming. Florence Waters, president of Flowing Waters inc. and intimate friend of everyone at the Middle School, is asked for a proposal. She mistakes it as a wedding proposal. The plot winds off in many directions at once from boys vs. girls to unexpected marraiges to the tree trimming. Somehow, though, you manage to keep everything straight while reading. One event which spurs the change of relationships between many people is the competition between the towns two restaruant owners - Chef Angelo and Angel Fisch. There will be a cookoff to see who is the better chef. The girls of the town form their own society and support Angel while the boys support Angelo. This gives the book a thicker plot and a flair. I highly reccomend this fun read. I gaurentee you'll smile!

I am a 9 year old girl and I think it is a really good book. Very surprising. In this book you have to figure out what is going to happen. It was really funny. I really liked Regarding the Fountain and Regarding the Sink too. Regarding the Trees was my favorite! Read it!

This book was the third in the series. It wasn't as good as the other two but was pretty good. If you like books that are made up of letters you will love this book. It describes things that you wouldn't think could be described in letters. Kate Klise does a great job with her books especially with this series. Sarah Klise also does a great job with the pictures on the front and back cover.

Geyser Creek Middle School principal, Walter Russ - Mr. Russ to you trouble-making students - is scheduled for an evaluation from the school board, sending his teeth chattering. He now has a limited amount of time before the school must be in order, in an attempt to ace his review, and look great in front of the superintendent. The problem? The trees on the school campus are horrible, and could easily be labeled as a health hazard. So Mr. Russ enlists the help of designer Florence Waters to give him a hand. Unfortunately, his proposal for a new set of trees is mistaken as a wedding proposal, and soon Mr. Russ and Florence are rumored to be engaged. As if that weren't bad enough, Angelo, the new school cafeteria chef - an Italian who makes a mean meatball - has taken up residence in Mr. N's sixth-grade classroom. One of Mr. N's students has moved into the historic old weeping willow tree behind the school. And the boys and girls - as well as men and women - in the community of Geyser Creek have boycotted each other, waging an all-out battle of the sexes that is making co-existence near impossible.

I have been a fan of Kate and M. Sarah Klise since I read their novel TRIAL BY JURY over 4-years-ago, and my affection for their books grows with each new release. REGARDING THE TREES is no exception. Told in alternating voices through faxes, letters, newspaper articles, historical papers, secret notes, and much more, REGARDING THE TREES is sure to entertain readers of all ages. The original, yet oh-so-interesting format is enjoyable, and makes you breeze through the story in record time, while the crazy characters that you encounter on each and every page make you wish that the story would go on forever. And don't forget the illustrations that bring the stars of the story to life. A hilarious book to accompany its equally hilarious predecessors, REGARDING THE SINK and REGARDING THE FOUNTAIN.

Erika Sorocco

Book Review Columnist for The Community Bugle Newspaper

I found the series that this book belongs in at discount in a store closing. The picture style reminded me of Roald Dahl books when I was younger, of course the pictures were done by Quentin Blake. It was a good deal so I thought why not, they of course had other regarding books there but only picked up 3 of the 5, and boy do a regret that now, I ordered the other 2 books on Amazon right after I read the first book in the series.

I read the first one Regarding the Fountain, and I read Regarding the Sink right after. I had Regarding the Bathroom but I wanted to read them in order so I waited for Regarding the Trees. It was definitely worth the wait.

This book is about the principle wanting to get rid of a weeping willow tree in the school (not the tree on the cover of the book). The kids have to do a family tree project. One of the students is adopted and Mr. Sam N. suggests to that student to do a history report instead which turns out some interesting information. The principle mentions that he wanted a hall way tree to hang up his coat (that is the tree pictured in the front of the book... flo misunderstood that a hall way tree, is more of a coat rack than an actual tree). Some interesting relationships are revealed in this book between a lot of the characters!

This one is a little more interesting than the other ones, this one involves romance and you learn a bit more background of some of the characters. Over all it is a sweet story. This doesn't really have a mystery per say but there is a surprise ending, and I liked learning more about the main characters and their relationships with each other.

First: four stars only because I have not read this myself. I have, however, read "Regarding the Fountain" and "Regarding the Bathrooms." I have given my 7-year-old granddaughter four books from this series, including this one. She is in the second grade but reads at a much higher level, at least in terms of vocabulary and grammar. For content, she is, of course, still 7. These books are great fun: many steps beyond chapter books, but not dealing with subjects that are too burdensome for a child. They are filled with puns that are amusing for any elementary-school child. The swirling imaginative element first introduced by Flo Waters (yes, I know) and spreading to the rest of the characters in a mundane Missouri town is especially enchanting. She enters the life of a middle school, and you can watch the kids blossom. I recommend starting with the first book, "Regarding the Fountain." These schoolchildren are an antidote to the whiny brats found in too many current books for children.

Just what is being reviewed? The book arrived as advertised, my kid loved the book. Read it through start to finish.

My pre-teen daughter likes this type of writing and thinking. It seems to suite her way of thinking. I just want the children to read as much as possible.