Sun and Grass, Water and Tree, Fire and Rain—nature’s cycle of creation unfolds in a compelling lyrical text and striking illustrations.
Sun grows beams and Grass grows blades and Cloud cannot contain herself.
Spring rains change Water from a tumbling creek to a roaring river and bring Tree nutrients it needs to stretch toward the sky. As Sun’s rays intensify, the sprouts and fruits and insects of the forest grow and bloom and develop, all working together in harmony. Even Fire, whose work causes Tree to ache from the inside, brings opportunity for the next generation of flora and fauna. Paired with the vivid, organic imagery of Dominique Ramsey, Liz Garton Scanlon’s poetic tribute to our planet’s resilience is a resonant story of life, death, and regeneration.---from the publisher
40 pages 978-1536226157 Ages 4-8
Keywords: nature, plants, resilience, ecology, poetry, 4 year old, 5 year old, 6 year old, 7 year old
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Sun grows beams and Grass grows blades and Cloud cannot contain herself.
Spring rains change Water from a tumbling creek to a roaring river and bring Tree nutrients it needs to stretch toward the sky. As Sun’s rays intensify, the sprouts and fruits and insects of the forest grow and bloom and develop, all working together in harmony. Even Fire, whose work causes Tree to ache from the inside, brings opportunity for the next generation of flora and fauna. This poetic tribute to our planet’s resilience, accompanied by its striking illustrations is a resonant story of life, death, and regeneration and demonstrates to young readers the interdependence of the elements of Nature and how without one, or too much of one, our planet cannot survive, let alone thrive.
It echoes the old Aesop fable of The North Wind and the Sun although the theme of this is not competition but the symbiosis of the elements, despite Tree warning that "it is not a race". As well as building a greater awareness of the world around them, it introduces young readers to the concept of life cycles and possibly sparking investigations of the connections between creatures and their habitats and what they can do to help such as making a bee motel.
For those more mature readers, the personification could be a metaphor for their own lives, a reassurance that despite all they might experience as they grow and mature into independence, like Tree, they have the resilience and wherewithal to cope with whatever they encounter no matter how bleak the immediate future might seem. Despite the devastation of Fire and the harshness of Winter, following the devastation, the Earth renews itself, and new lives arise again, rife with fabulous potential - just as they can.
Recommended by: Barbara Braxton, Teacher Librarian, New South Wales AUSTRALIA
See more of her recommendations:
500 Hats http://500hats.edublogs.org/
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Resilience. Hope. Nature is filled with cycles of coming together and bursting forth followed by times of devastation and dormancy.
This is a powerful, powerful story that serves as a metaphor for many adults. Our natural world begins small just as we do and each wondrous root, shoot, breeze, tree "finds their way and their place." We each have a place where we fit in and belong.
Each small part of our natural world has to hold on during the big winds, the heavy rains, the times when there is no rain and then, during the times when a fire comes and consumes so much in its path.
"There's not a thing in the world anyone can say to that." Get ready for the page turn... because it turns out that we can be renewed, we can come back, plants will start their little shoots and wiggle their back to the sun, and the air and the wonder of rain.
Life is beautiful even with the fires and the devastation all of those plants and trees survive. Nature knows how to come back starting again with the small.
This is an inspiring, empowering book for plants and humans alike. Read it to your favorite plant!
Recommended by: Barb Langridge, abookandahug.com
