Alvin Tresselt’s book, The Gift of the Tree, is an older text c1972, 1992. The seasonal descriptions sequence the life a tree gives through aging stages. Rich language seasons your mental images, prompted by the paintings of Henri Sorensen. Each two page scene summarizes the change happening with the tree and the life, protection it gives to the creatures around. It’s personified, showing battles between the inhabitants and aging.
During this fall season, take your class outside and observe a tree. What critters are around? Is it a home to any animals? As the seasons change, observe changes and notice the importance of trees. Take pictures and write observation notes. Create a class book with the tree being the central focus.
Savorings for reading and in writing for The Gift of the Tree:
- Science Connection – seasons, cycle of the trees – leaves mulch and disintegrate into the soil, limbs weakening
- Setting – description
- Rich language – moldered, gnarled
- Personification – “life gnawed at it’s heart”
- Sequence of seasons and years