The Forever Tree

PreS-Gr 2—Communities come together in unusual ways for various reasons, and often end up serving a purpose that was never imagined. This was the case when an old elm tree at a campground in Wisconsin is endangered and a group of local artists, architects, and the tree's owners come together to preserve it. In this anthropomorphized story told by the owner of the campground, readers learn that the tree grew from something more than rain and sunshine—it grew from love. Slater's bright and sprightly retro illustrations (think Richard Scarry in a Pinterest wonderland) follow a narrative that imagines the tree as home to animals who have "sleepovers, weddings and championship bingo tournaments" there. The author's father-in-law comes and installs a rope swing for his granddaughter. That "act of love" attracts other people who are drawn to the tree just as the animals have been, and the community grows. "But one Spring, after a Long Hard Winter, the Tree did not wake up with budding leaves. The Tree did not wake up at all." The animal and human communities step up—what can be done to save the tree? The result, in real life and in fiction, is a large and beautiful tree house, which uses the trunk of the tree as its centerpiece and the rope swing as its tether to the past.