21 Things to Do With a Tree
An outdoor activity book
by Jane Wilsher
This title was previously available on NetGalley and is now archived.
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Pub Date 5 Sep 2023 | Archive Date 25 Jul 2023
Quarto Publishing Group – Ivy Kids | Ivy Kids Eco
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Description
First, select the friendly wooden giant that you want to get to know, then meet and explore it more fully with 21 games and activities, all taking place in the great outdoors.
Hug your tree, rub its bark, ask your tree how old it is and meet the animals that make their homes in its branches.
You can also take a bath with your tree (a forest bath that is!), play games together, and make forest art.
This playful approach to an outdoor activity book supports learning, helps foster a vital bond with nature and stimulates creative and imaginative play for children of 6 and over.
Contents
Say hooray for trees!
Choose your tree
Meet your tree
Hug your tree
Draw a portrait of your tree
Rub your tree's bark
Ask your tree its age
Measure your tree
Talk leaves to your tree
Watch your tree over the year
Breathe with your tree
Meet your tree's animal friends
Can you eat your tree?
Picnic with your tree
Play tree tag
Dream a tree house
Climb your tree
Make forest art
Plant a new tree
Thank your tree
Look after your tree
More things to do with a tree
Mini tree glossary
Available Editions
EDITION | Other Format |
ISBN | 9780711280540 |
PRICE | US$21.99 (USD) |
PAGES | 32 |
Available on NetGalley
Featured Reviews
If you are looking for a book to give you ideas for things that your kids can do outside in nature, then I would definitely consider picking up this book. As a parent, the teacher, I found this book to be delightful, and really insightful when it comes to things that kids can do with nature.
Loved it! Really fabulous illustrations. Lots of lovely things to do. I would definitely buy thus for my child or for a gift!
Thank you to Quarto Publishing and NetGalley for the gift of this beautiful children's book all about trees. My children are grown now, but I still love to read picture books. This one is gorgeously illustrated (thanks to the talented Martin Stanev), well researched and creatively written by Jane Wilsher. Wonderful informational activity book celebrating nature. It's perfect for children of all ages!
What a fun, creative book to encourage children to explore and experience nature. We love to take our grandkids hiking and there are so many great suggestions in this book to keep them engaged with nature. Great book! Thanks #NetGalley
I loved it! It's perfect for English class, I can't wait to have it in my hands and start projects with my little ones. It has a lot of cute and superb ideas for approaching trees and nature.
I love this little book! 21 Things to Do With a Tree is a storybook for young readers, filled to the brim with facts about trees and their ecosystems, as well as many fun activities to get little ones out and connecting with nature. This is a great way to encourage children both the enjoy reading AND to better appreciate the natural world.
Thank you Jane Walsh, NetGalley, and Quarto Publishing Group – Ivy Kids, Ivy Kids Eco for providing this ARC for review consideration. All opinions expressed are my own.
Oh, god! I’m in lovveee…
I moment I saw the book on NetGalley, I knew I had to read it. As the title suggests, the book details 21 things a child can do with a tree. The list starts with choosing a tree and ends with looking after it. The rest of it covers different ways to understand a tree and spend quality time in nature (with and without friends).
The entire content is thoughtful and comes with enough safety instructions (with some repetitions) so that kids don’t end up hurting themselves. The rest of it provides information about trees in general. From different parts of a tree to types of leaves, animals & birds living in the trees, seasonal growth, etc., the information is crisp and to the point.
There are enough bits of humor to keep kids entertained as they learn about the importance of trees. It also promotes fun activities with friends and family.
The text is tiny, though. One page has a different design to fit the layout (which won’t be a problem for physical copies). However, I love that the publishers print their books on recycled paper to keep them planet-friendly.
The illustrations are perfect for the book. They seem like crayons (or maybe mixed with some watercolor). The pastel background with soft shades of greens, browns, and reds makes this gentle on the eyes. Diversity and inclusivity are seamlessly presented in the illustrations.
To summarize, 21 Things to Do With a Tree is a book every family should have in their home. Read it with your little ones and not-so-little ones. In fact, even you can do the same things with them. Imagine how much fun that would be!
I received an ARC from NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group – Ivy Kids Eco and am voluntarily leaving a review.
*****
Links to GR and Amazon reviews will be updated later.
A book perfect for anyone who loves the outdoors and trees. This is a great book for summer actives or enjoy in the fall when the leaves change colors. It is an activity book with 21 main ideas on what you can do with a tree. Each main idea has several subideas and also shares facts about trees. This non fiction book is a wonderful read!
Delightfully charming and so sweet. A story I read to my daughter and she also loved it. I will absolutely buy a hard copy when it’s available. Loved. Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to read this one early.
What a delightful book! This is the type of book my sons would have loved to revisit regularly if they'd had it when they were younger. I can also easily see this book as a wonderful addition to classroom libraries.
This nonfiction treasure is filled with little tidbits about trees. It guides the reader to explore trees in varied and creative ways. I especially like the pages that explain how to plant a tree from its seeds and how to bathe with your tree. The illustrations are subdued but adorable, with an old-school feel.
I am beginning to see Quarto Publishing as some kind of quality assurance mark for non-fiction books. This one is as fabulous as the other non-fiction books I have previewed from the same publisher.
It is an informative book to guide children in their quest for knowledge on trees. It will help them build a connection with the tree. The information is really spot-on and the illustrations are just glorious. My only complaint is that it will be better if it could be publish in July. Students will have more time to explore nature during their summer holiday.
Great book for explorative kids and their grown ups! I love the graphics in this book, and that it takes you along a "journey" of hanging out with a tree, but through it all you learn little snippets of facts about trees. Books like these are the kind of thing that get kids interested in nature and science, and I love how simple it is yet effective all the same
I've been a tree lover all my life; my first nature book was on identifying trees. I am now a tree surgeon. I read this lovely, bright, cheerful little book, and I'm an instant fan of the authors.
Bring this to school or the Guides or Scouts. Bring it on a family picnic, walk or holiday. Give it to a young person with no friends or with many friends. The activities and uses suggested are fun, educational and crafting, with much need for kids to do their own research - what tree species they choose, what birds they can identify. Solid advice too such as not eating anything like berries or fungi, and climbing when an adult is around to help. The visuals are inclusive and concisely informative.
Enjoy! I read an e-ARC from Net Galley. This is an unbiased review.
My daughter and I took this (digital copy) to the park with us and picked a tree and learned all about it thanks to this fun book! Our favorite part was the guided tree bath moment where we looked up at the tree and breathed the air and felt the wind and leaves. This book is an adorable interactive learning experience full of beautiful illustrations and facts that help young readers discover the trees around them!
**received in exchange for review. opinions my own**
I'm excited for this book to be released, because I'd LOVE to have a copy JUST to have a copy. It feels like a coffee table/nature fun activity book. There's no story -- it's more or less 21 ways to interact with a tree, or 21 tree-related nature activities to get a child (or yourself) out and interacting with nature.
This illustrated book is a very fun read. It offers multiple suggestions to entertain kids outside, and engage them more in/with nature. The images are all very pretty, and it's filled with inspiring ideas to spend quality, meaningful time outdoors.
I ADORE this book it is so cute and so much fun I can’t wait to take my 8 year old on an adventure! Also the representation in the illustrations are great. It’s such a fun book while also teaching and getting you outdoors.
This book helps broadens your child's mind about the wisdom of trees and how recycling helps them.
The knowledge on these lovely illustrated pages is priceless. It is an educative, active book with priceless data.
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an eARC of this book. I loved it! Perfect for families or even a younger elementary classroom. Readers are encouraged to choose a tree and study many aspects of it. I’ll definitely be recommending this to teachers for a classroom book study!!
Stunning illustrated book. My daughter thoroughly enjoyed it. It helps children and adult be more aware of nature, teaches them to see creativity in nature, ways in which nature can encourage adventures and how nature can be homes to our little animal friends.
Exploring the importance of trees and how vital they are, alongside 21 wonderful different tree-related activities.
From bark rubbing to tree hugging, forest bathing to birdwatching. This is a lovely book for little ones, and the perfect summer holiday activity book to encourage kids to get outside and explore the world around them!
Thank you to NetGalley & Quarto Publishing for the DRC
There's a kid in a wheelchair on the cover of the book! I love when books include disabilities, so I had high hopes upon turning the first page. Next, I laughed at the warning not to eat poop. I thought, "Yep, this is a book I must share with my boy."
As I continued my journey through the tree activities, I discovered numerous facts about trees, some of which I didn't even know as an adult. From how roots work to how bark protects the trees (did you know cinnamon is bark?), why leaves are green, and the lifecycle of an apple, 21 Things to Do With a Tree is filled with facts about trees.
The activities progress in order, similar to how a scientist discovers a new object and looks for clues about how it works. The book continually asks questions about the tree, which helps keep a child engaged. I would take this book with us on tree adventures and help connect the facts with the tree we're looking at. I also liked how many activities involved art and movement.
When I read nonfiction books, I consider how to incorporate them into a curriculum. Almost every page could be its own lesson. We have math with measuring the tree's diameter and height, science when talking about how trees breathe, how trees grow, and the lifecycle of fruit, civics with recycling and communities, and PE with climbing trees, among others.
I look forward to using this book as an activity guide.
Recommended age: 8-10 years (Elementary school)
Writing style: The book is directed to the child. It frequently asks questions like "What's your tree's name?" and "Do you prefer apples or oranges?" I'm happy it also includes asking parents before doing anything potentially unsafe. Each page is broken down into short 1-2 sentence facts, which makes it easy to learn a bunch of information quickly.
Lexile range (unofficial): 410L - 600L
Decoding difficulty: 4/5
Vocabulary difficulty: 4/5
Sentences difficulty: 4/5
Patterns difficulty: 5/5
Illustration style: The illustrations were created digitally and contain a lot of greens, blues, and browns, as you'd expect with trees. Overall, the colors are muted, so they don't interfere with the text. There's no consistent format to the pages, which I like. Some are full-page spreads. Others contain many "sticky note" type blurbs and different paper types and are split into sections. You even need to flip vertically on one page to see the whole image. I really liked the variety here. It kept things interesting.
Reality-based: 21 Things to Do With a Tree is a nonfiction book all about trees.
Disclaimer: Thank you, NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group - Ivy Kids, for this title. All opinions are my own.
21 Things to do with a Tree by Jane Wilsher, with illustrations by @martinstanevillustration, unfolds the beautiful ecology of our forests. The book skillfully covers topics ranging from photosynthesis and pollination to the crucial role trees play in preventing soil erosion. What sets it apart is its ability to present these large concepts through captivating illustrations, that will be sure to engage and fascinate the littles.
It has to be said that the book is exemplary in its emphasis on diversity and inclusion, which are woven subtly into the narrative.
The premise of the book is quite intriguing. It invites readers to pick their own tree and offers 21 exciting activities to form a bond with it. These include hugging the tree, sensing its bark, estimating its age, and discovering the myriad creatures that inhabit its branches. There are also inventive suggestions like taking a 'forest bath' with your tree, indulging in shared games, and creating forest art.
"21 Things to do with a Tree" isn't just an outdoor activity book. It is an inventive tool that stimulates learning, fosters a profound connection with nature, and encourages creativity and imagination. It's a wonderful read for children aged six and up, sparking their curiosity and love for the environment
Thank you NetGalley and Ivy Kids Eco for this eCopy to review
First of all I love that your physical books are printed on 100% recycled paper.
This is a fun filled fact and activity books about trees. The information is very accessible for children to read and the activities are all simple to follow and actually do. We really loved the illustrations and had great fun exploring all the pictures and then exploring our own trees around us.
Great book of fun outdoor activities that will get kids away from their screens and out into nature! From making tree-based art to learning about the animals that live in the trees, the activities are presented in a simple way with cute accompanying illustrations.
I'm torn between making a "go climb a tree" joke or making a John Gorka reference—but I guess I can do both! Climbing a tree is already in the book, which gives me twenty-*two* things to do with a tree.
This book is, as the title suggests, all about trees and some ways to get to know them better. Some of the activities are more likely to hold kids' attentions than others, but the illustrations are absolutely wonderful—delicate and detailed. They're also casually, naturally inclusive: the children (and adults) in the book have varying skin tones, some are wearing hijabs (and one is wearing a dinosaur sweater—and okay, that has nothing to do with diversity, but it's adorable), and one character is in a wheelchair. There's stuff for kids of different ages and interests and physical abilities in here. It's great. (The book is also careful to slip in safety reminders as needed. Don't eat the berries!)
Another wonderful addition to a kids' bookshelf. Honestly, I'm taking some tips—as a grown adult—from page 24 on how to plant a tree...and I'm also going to go look up Gorka's "Branching Out" again. May this book prove to be as timeless as that song.
Thanks to the author and publisher for providing a review copy through NetGalley.
So so cute! I really loved reading this one, as a kid this would have probably gone down as one of my favorite books. I'm hoping for a translation to other languages because I need to give this to everyone I know who has small kids.
It's well written, I only really found one spelling that was off, the pictures are super cute and I love that all kinds of kids and people are among the pictures. There's representations for different beliefs, for handicaps like wheelchairs, and there's tips surrounding these handicaps as well.
I also appreciated the warnings to kids of not eating what you don't know and other things, while still encouraging them to explore and try new things.
The scope of it was perfect with a focus on finding a tree to be your buddy and explore it with guidance from the book for at least a year, and more even. Kids are encouraged to follow a trees life and see how it develops, while getting information and learning about how it works and what trees do for us, as well as what we can do for them.
I would highly recommend this to any kid out there, it's so well done, I'm very impressed!
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