Wishtree
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Wishtree
Grades 4-5 & up
Realistic Fiction with Mystery and Fantasy elements
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Book Summary:
It's not every day that you get to read a story from the perspective of a tree - and a neighborhood wish tree that has lived for a couple of hundred years, at that. People are often leaving fabric and paper scraps - sometimes socks - on Red as a symbol of their wishes. They talk to Red, too, but Red doesn't talk back. Some of Red's closer neighbors include animals who make their home in Red's branches, as well as people who live in nearby houses. When someone carves an ugly message into Red's trunk, there's a move to cut down the wish tree. What can one community - one person - one tree do? Book Review: Like the author's other books, environmentalism is a strong theme, but the characterization is the predominant element. While it isn't a novel in verse, the shorter sentences make the narrative feel a bit poetic. This is a good book to read and discuss how actions affect many different people - and animals - and to examine traditions, communities, and friendship. "I kept tabs, eavesdropped, observed. I never interfered, though. Trees are impartial observers. We are the strong and silent type."
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If you like this book, you may also like . . .
A Drop of Hope
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Maybe a Fox
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The Seventh Wish
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