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PICTURE BOOKS
Hesselberth, Joyce

Beatrice Was a Tree

40 pp. | Greenwillow | May, 2021 | Trade ISBN 978-0-06-274126-4 $17.99
(2) K-3 A young girl's "If I were a tree..." conjecture opens the door for an informative and imaginative journey through the seasons of arboreal life. Upon being summoned inside for the evening, Beatrice indignantly reflects that if she were a tree she could "stay outside all night long." The page-turn slowly metamorphoses her arm into a branch, with leaves now in her hair, and her narrative journey begins: "Darkness fell. Stars sparkled. Beatrice swayed in the breeze." Hesselberth's watercolor, acrylic paint, gouache, and digital collage illustrations use texture, geometric shapes, and muted colors to depict a tree's many appearances throughout the cyclical year. One effective spread shows an underground cutaway view of the various creatures that make their homes amongst the roots. Beatrice's indignation upon being snapped out of her meditative state by a second summons--"Beatrice! Bed! Now!"--will resonate with children. Diagrams of photosynthesis and the life cycle of a tree and a list of animals that rely on trees for survival provide further information on the final spread. The endpapers feature various types of leaves, labeled. A fantastical view of trees and their place in nature.
Reviewer: Emmie Stuart | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2021

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