BE THANKFUL FOR TREES

A Tribute to the Many & Surprising Ways Trees Relate to Our Lives

By: Harriet Ziefert

Illustrated by: Brian Fitzgerald

Published: March 29,, 2022

Publisher: Red Comet Press

Non-Fiction

This book approaches teaching all the wonderful things trees provide in a fun, readable format. Reading like a storybook, but full of facts and realistic illustrations, kids will learn to be thankful for the trees in their neighborhood.

Trees provide food, comfort, and protection for humans and animals. We depend on trees to provide us with apples, nuts, and even chocolate, but they also provide bark and leaves for animals. We get the wood for our homes and our furniture from trees. Trees are a home for many animals including numerous types of birds, but they also provide a recreation space for kids to swing from and cats to climb as well as provide the wood for bats to swing. Trees are necessary for our daily lives. They even provided the paper for this book.

Would it be possible to live without trees? It would not! Trees provide us years of protection and we need to provide them protection as well. Without trees, we wouldn’t have birds or shade or a way to keep our air clean. After losing our two large maple trees in the Derecho a couple of summers ago, we realized how much we missed their protection from wind and the shade they provided from the summer sun. We planted 3 new trees last summer and I can’t wait to see them grow over the rest of our time here.

Young kids will be exposed to all the wonderful things trees give to us and how important they are to not only our livelihood but also for so many animals. This reads like a picture book and kids won’t even realize they are learning while reading. The illustrations are really wonderful and show a variety of trees and animals that benefit from them. We need to be thankful for trees and all they provide for humans and animals. Ziefert has written an approachable book about being kind to and saving the trees for young kids. Celebrate the upcoming Arbor Day on April 29, 2022, by getting this book and planting a tree or two in your backyard.

You can download a teacher’s guide, HERE.

Harriet Ziefert grew up in New Jersey, where she attended the local schools. She graduated from Smith College, then received a Master’s degree in Education from New York University, where she was among the founding pioneers in the development and teaching of what today is known as the Common Core Curriculum. Since then, she has written more than 200 books.

As the publisher of Blue Apple Books, Ziefert launched the award-winning Jump-Into-Chapters series, which includes Scribbles and Ink, now a WGBH televised series. As a packager, Ziefert delivered the Caldecott Honor-winning There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly. The mother of two and grandmother of five, Ziefert lives in the Berkshires of Massachusetts.

Brian Fitzgerald is an internationally recognized, award-winning illustrator of children’s books. He is a graduate of Ireland’s National College of Art and Design and has also worked on publishing, editorial, and design projects. Brian lives and works in Dún Laoghaire, Dublin.

To purchase a copy of BE THANKFUL FOR TREES, click the photo below:



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Thanks to the publisher for sending a copy of this book for the purpose of this review. This review is my honest opinion. If you choose to make a purchase through the above links, I may receive a small commission without you having to pay a cent more for your purchase.
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3 Comments

  1. Wendy on April 19, 2023 at 6:54 pm

    Beautiful belived book – kids love it and so do teachers

  2. Barbara on June 7, 2023 at 9:07 pm

    This is a great book for teaching kids the importance of trees. I’d love to access the Teacher Guide. How do I get it?

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