Treemendous Diary of a not yet mighty oak

Told in a gently humorous first-person perspective, this narrative nonfiction tale follows an anthropomorphic "teeny tiny acorn" as it grows into a mighty oak among its family of 10,000 trees, who live in a diverse forest that includes walnuts, florals, and pines. As the acorn is squirreled away in the dirt and begins to grow, Heos employs an eager conversational voice to share the tree's maturation process, including sprouting roots and photosynthesis: "Like magic, the sunlight changes the water and carbon dioxide into sugar.... Sweet!" Expressive digital illustrations by Ciccotello portray the acorn and its brethren with facial features, while clearly depicted root systems and labeled diagrams give the art an educational heft that's just right for new nonfiction readers. Back matter includes sources and additional resources. Ages 3--7. (Mar.)

One oak narrates its own tale--with diary entries, illustrations, and diagrams--from its inception as an acorn to nearing the status of "mighty oak." From the start, the oak's voice is perky and laden with wordplay, accompanied by colorful artwork that is best described as cutesy. The art dutifully complements the text: For example, the oak makes a joke about pines and Christmas decorations, and from that page on, smiling pine trees sport small, round red balls--evoking ornaments--and lots of pale-green ribbons tied into bows. The diary conceit allows readers to get an idea of how long it may take for each stage of an oak's life, and the illustrations provide clear depictions of the parts that sprout from an acorn. Entries are written simply, but the text is on the lengthy side for an effective read-aloud, and it carries a fairly heavy informational load. There are concise explanations of photosynthesis, heartwood, and sapwood and a brief mention of trees' value in fighting climate change, expressed in the oak's typical manner: "Not to be sappy, but trees make the world a better place." The corny but not unclever monologue would be easy to convert into a skit for children to perform--wearing costumes much more interesting than the book's cartoony trees with their inked-on smiles and round, sometimes lashed eyes. One page shows a child and two adults in the background, all apparently White. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at 64% of actual size.) Good for budding botanists who enjoy puns. (timeline, further resources) (Picture book. 5-7) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.