A Picture Book a Day for a Year: Day 102

Picture Book: Tell Me, Tree: All about Trees for Kids

Author & Illustrator: Gail Gibbons

Summary: Like so many of this author’s books, Tell Me, Tree is filled with fun facts and illustrated with beautifully simple drawings, some quite instructive. It includes a guide to various trees, their anatomy, the science of photosynthesis, uses for trees, and how to make a tree identification book.

Hanna’s Comments: Gail Gibbons has more than 100 well-designed factual books for children. Many are likely in your local library. Keep her in mind whenever you want more information on a particular subject in natural history and science. Her information will probably be in a more accessible form than content you might find on the internet. She has great books on everything from apples to zoos that cover scientific concepts, cultural events, and even literary phenomena. My husband leads a design team at our church for our summer arts camp. He writes the Bible Story experiences based on a theme which is sometimes a natural history concept. One of Gibbon’s books on that concept would be a great place to start planning. When you need to fill in the gaps of a lesson or program for children, a Gibbons' book is a great place to start.

Here is a list of just a few of the great books available to you about trees. Some are a story and some are factual. You’ll find summaries on Amazon.com.

If You Hold a Seed by Elly MacKay

Someday a Tree by Ronald Himler                

The Busy Tree by Jennifer Ward                                

Who Will Plant a Tree by Jerry Pallotta               

As an Oak Tree Grows by G. Brian Karas               

The Whistling Tree by Audrey Penn                 

The Tree by Dana Lyons

Sequoia by Tony Johnston

Publisher & Date of Publication: Little, Brown, & Company, 2002

Age & Grade Appropriateness: 4 and up, Pre and up

# of Pages: 32

Available in Spanish? Not at present

Formats other than Book: None at present

PBT Category: Non-fiction

PBT Topics this Book Connects with: abundance/bounty, beauty, blessings, care of creation, creation, diversity, Earth/world, the environment/nature, fruit/fruit of the Spirit, gardening/planting/pruning/sowing, light/morning, moon/space/stars/sun, protecting/protection, steadfastness, strength/strength in God, variety, water

Scripture Connections: He is like a tree planted by water (Psalm 1:3, Jeremiah 17:8); every healthy tree bears good fruit (Matthew 7:17); being rooted and grounded in love (Ephesians 3:17)

Idea(s) for Application: Use this book when designing learning stations for children about the Fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23).