Tree in the Trail [Hardcover]

Holling Clancy Holling (Author, Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 8 and up | Grade Level: 4 and up

The history of the Great Plains and the Santa Fe Trail is told in text and pictures by focusing on a cottonwood tree and the events that happen around it.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"The story of a cottonwood tree that watched the pageant of history on the Santa Fe Trail where it stood, a landmark to travelers and a peace-medicine tree to Indians, for over 200 years." Booklist, ALA

About the Author

Born in Jackson County, Michigan, in 1900, Holling Clancy Holling graduated from the Art Institute of Chicago in 1923. He then worked in a taxidermy department of the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago and spent time working in anthropology under Dr. Ralph Linton. During this period, he married Lucille Webster and within a year of their marriage accepted a position as art instructor on the first University World Cruise, sponsored by New York University. For many years, Holling C. Holling dedicated much of his time and interest to making books for children. Much of the material he used was known to him first hand, and his wife, Lucille, worked with him on many of the illustrations.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 8 and up
  
• Hardcover: 64 pages
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children (September 9, 1964)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 039518228X
• ISBN-13: 978-0395182284
• Product Dimensions: 11.5 x 8.9 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #267,973 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Born in Jackson County, Michigan, in 1900, Holling Clancy Holling graduated from the Art Institute of Chicago in 1923. He then worked in a taxidermy department of the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago and spent time working in anthropology under Dr. Ralph Linton. During this period, he married Lucille Webster and within a year of their marriage accepted a position as art instructor on the first University World Cruise, sponsored by New York University. For many years, Holling C. Holling dedicated much of his time and interest to making books for children. Much of the material he used was known to him first hand, and his wife, Lucille, worked with him on many of the illustrations.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

47 of 47 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Tree in the Trail is a grand history book, February 18, 2001

By 

Rebecca Brown "rebeccasreads" (Clallam Bay, WA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Tree in the Trail (Hardcover)

This much-loved Children's Classic, written in an era where the phrase "politically correct" was unheard of, tells the simple, exquisite story of a tree, a boy, a special place & the coming of the seasons & centuries.

In the beginning of the cottonwood's life, a Kansas Indian boy builds a barricade to protect it from the thirsty herds of buffalo seeking relief in the nearby pond at the edges of the American Great Plains. Generations of tribes of the First People gather at this high place & revere this lonesome tree.

Then explorers from across the world pass by with anger in their hearts & the pathway they find becomes the Sante Fe Trail. In time trappers & settlers pass on by leaving their marks, telling their stories.

This is the way I love to learn history: the ebb & flow of rich memories, evocative paintings & curious sketches depicting the passage of time & the tools of people on the move. Do check out my full review & other reviews of a host of children's books.

50 of 52 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I loved it in 1942, I still love it today (1999)., April 30, 1999

By 

Nedd Mockler ([e-mail]) (Lilburn, Georgia 30047) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tree in the Trail (Turtleback)

This is a little different review. Fifty-seven years ago at the request of his mother I visited Holling C. Holling at his California ranch. I was eight years old. He asked me to pose for a few sketches he wanted to do. Later that year he sent me the book "Tree in the Trail." Inside the front cover he had written "For Nedd Mockler, who posed for the Indian boy in this book. With best wishes, Holling C. Holling." The inscription is dated "Dec. 1942." I have all of his books and enjoy looking at them still. Lucille Holling, his wife, was a water color artist and helped with many of his projects. (I would like to correspond with the gentleman who wrote the first review. Would you give him my name, phone and email address. Thanks)

29 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Unforgettable, December 29, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Tree in the Trail (Paperback)

I am 58 years old, as a small boy my mother gave me this book (original edition). It was my favorite book of the hundreds available to me (very literate family). Would love to get two of the original editions for my grandsons.. Hate to give up my copy which I still have after 50 yrs....Proabably 5/6 yrs old interests different today than in the mid-1940's but I would still recommend this book as a great imagination stimulas for a small boy.