The Nut That Fell from the Tree by Sangeeta Bhadra, illustrated by France Cormier. Kids Can Press, 2020. 9781525301193
Format: Hardcover
Rating: 1-5 (5 is an excellent or a Starred review) 4
Genre: Animal fantasy
What did you like about the book? A progressive story that riffs on the classic rhyme “The House That Jack Built.” A little girl named Jill plays in a tree house. The tree drops an acorn, a rat steels the acorn, a blue jay takes the acorn from the rat, and so on in progressively longer verses until the acorn is buried by a squirrel. The acorn grows into another oak tree, where a kid named Jack plays. On the last page, his mom, clearly the Jill of the beginning, brings him a snack in his tree house. The rhyming works well, as the acorn gets taken by many different animals, and onomatopoeia helps animate the fun digital art of the animals, none of whom manage to hold on to the acorn, until the squirrel gets it. Kids will find the hapless animals amusing, and will enjoy pointing out how they can tell that the mom on the last page is the same person as the girl on the first page. A gently playful read.
Anything you didn’t like about it? No
To whom would you recommend this book? For fans of books in rhyme, ages 3-7.
Who should buy this book? Daycares and elementary school and public libraries
Where would you shelve it ? Picture books
Should we (librarians/readers) put this on the top of our “to read” piles? No
Reviewer’s Name, Library (or school), City and State: Stephanie Tournas, Robbins Library, Arlington, MA
Date of review: November 30, 2020
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