Picture a Tree

Picture a Tree

By Barbara Reid

Albert Whitman & Company, 2011

Grades: PreK, K, 1, 2, 3

Synopsis: Through beautifully detailed clay-like illustrations the author challenges readers to see trees in many different ways. Not only can a tree look like a skeleton in the winter, but a forest can look like a green ocean, and if you look closely a single tree could be a "high-rise" for many different critters. The book cycles through all the seasons starting in winter and going through until the following spring.

Jump: For younger students, this book can be used as a great introduction to trees, their life cycles, and the seasons. Using the illustrations, students can be asked to sort the pictures where the trees look similar. The pictures could then be put in order as a sequence of the seasons. Other photos or illustrations of trees could also be used and then categorized along with those in the book.

For older students, this book could be used as an introduction to metaphor. The author has trees wearing snowsuits and behaving as umbrellas or tunnels. The illustrations show the comparison between the tree and the "picture" presented. If you look closely at the illustration of the "high-rise" there is also a clear parallel between the animals in the tree and the people in the apartment building behind.