By
– October 10, 2011
Dear Tree is a beautiful and poetic rendering of the wishes of a little boy (clearly an observant Jew by his clothing) for his neighborhood crabapple tree at Tu B’Shvat. He wants the tree to have a year filled with sunlight, rain, chirping birds, buzzing bees, beautiful blossoms, shining leaves, and sweet fruit with seeds that grow into little trees. He says he will protect and guard the tree because he knows that trees around the world do so much good for the earth and people like him. There is an excellent explanation of Tu B’Shvat on the back page. An illustration is on every page and sometimes spreading to two pages, all vibrant paintings that are very effective. They are large and use a variety of perspectives and include the natural changes of the tree thorough the seasons. A lovely book for the Tu B’Shvat holiday to share with preschool children of any denomination. Pre-school.
Barbara Silverman had an M.L.S. from Texas Woman’s University. She worked as a children’s librarian at the Corpus Christi Public Libraries and at the Corpus Christi ISD before retiring. She worked as a volunteer at the Astor Judaic Library of the Lawrence Family JCC in La Jolla, CA. Sadly, Barbara passed away is 2012.