The Horn Book Guide

PICTURE BOOKS

Fleischman, Paul

The Birthday Tree

40 pp. | Candlewick | March, 2008 | Trade ISBN 978-0-7636-2604-4 $16.99
New ed. (1979, Harper)

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Barry Root. After losing three sons, a sailor and his wife establish a farm and have another son, Jack. They plant an apple tree, and Jack and the tree mature together, the tree miraculously reflecting the boy's welfare even after Jack sets out to sea. Root's new illustrations are in warm, dappled golds and cool blue-grays that brighten in the story's happier times.

Reviewer: Joanna Rudge Long | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2008