Review by Booklist Review
A girl with huge eyes, a moon-shaped face, and bendy arms and legs is hanging from a tree limb at night when someone (we see only a cartoon speech bubble) summons her to bed. Wanting to stay out all night, Beatrice wishes she were a tree, and with that, her metamorphosis begins. Her face fades to bark; her right arm becomes a branch. The narrative catalogs what she can do: cradle a bird's nest, provide a playground for squirrels, push her roots underground. She bounces and shakes and whispers goodbye to falling leaves. As the Beatrice tree changes through the seasons, the illustrations, done in watercolor, acrylic paint, gouache, and digital collage, use simple shapes and flickering colors to produce a dreamlike feel. At the end, once Beatrice is in bed, a page of factual tree information is somewhat jolting. Young readers may enjoy the fantasy more than the facts, but the fantasy works, both as a lovely metamorphosis story and in showing the vitality of trees.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Beatrice, a pink-skinned child with faded indigo hair, conjures a verdant life in this faintly fantastical picture book by author-illustrator Hesselberth. Hanging upside down from a branch in a grove of trees, Beatrice frowns when an unidentified voice yells, "Beatrice, time for bed!" What follows is a seemingly Kafkaesque transformation as Beatrice's arm stretches into a leafy branch, her face melds into bark, and she becomes a tall and bird-filled tree, then experiences the seasons. Beatrice's narrative comprises descriptive prose and short sentences: "The air turned sweet and crisp./ Beatrice's leaves put on a magic/ show as summer turned to fall." Bright art done in watercolor, gouache, acrylic, and digital collage beguilingly trace the girl's change, as well as the tree's seasonal transformations. A surprising ending rounds out this informative tale. Back matter includes tree facts. Ages 4--8. (May)
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
K-Gr 2--Look at the trees. Beginning with labeled leaf shapes on end pages, the reader's eye moves on to stylized folk art images of trees and the fluid movements of fair-skinned, dark-haired Beatrice as she climbs a tree, hangs upside down, and briefly tries to ignore the call to come in for the night. She can easily visualize staying outside the full night: "If I were a tree…." Her arms grow into tree shape with trunk and bark, with branches and leaves that move with the breeze. Birds catch the morning sun, squirrels appear, followed by caterpillars, deer, spiders, and a sleepy owl. The tree then sends roots to burrow into soil with earthworms, chipmunks, vole, and mice. As Beatrice dreams of her tree, each page brings the reader a new seasonal digital collage with watercolor, acrylic, and gouache, ending with brief simple sentences and the quiet of fallen snow. An infographic page emphasizes how animals use trees, including a labeled diagram of tree parts, the seasons, an explanation of photosynthesis, and encouragement to plant. VERDICT A suggested general purchase for all libraries, the book is a lovely art tribute to the beauty of trees through Beatrice's dream--interrupted by a persistent voice and the annoying final call, "Beatrice, Bed! Now!"--Mary Elam, Learning Media Services, Plano I.S.D., TX
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
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. Emmie Stuart September/October 2021 p.68(c) Copyright 2021. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
As Beatrice stalls her bedtime, readers learn rudimentary facts about trees. In the opening double-page spread, the titular girl, clad in overalls, hangs upside down from a tree branch. Purplish hair hangs beneath her pale, oversized face; her blue-gray irises point across the page's gutter. Beatrice is surrounded by a nighttime scene: stars in the dark blue sky, a yellow crescent moon hanging over a lit-from-within house in the recto's background. In white capital letters, a sound balloon from the house exhorts, "Beatrice, time for bed!" After the page turn, Beatrice is on the ground, her disgruntled facial expression and body language humorously familiar to all. She mutters that if she were a tree, she could "stay outside all night long." In the next double-page spread, her expression changes to wonder as she imagines herself sprouting twigs and leaves. Soon, she is fantasizing about her life as a tree, first into the next day and then through the seasons. Her face cleverly fades into a tree's overstory as the pages of colorful artwork--punctuated with short bursts of text and plenty of endearing animals--move toward the inevitable conclusion to her fantasy. After Beatrice's second warning, her expression is again fun to behold, and a hint of subversion in the final, wordless page adds satisfaction. Additional pages contribute a few more botanical facts, but the story itself naturally segues into naptime or bedtime. Bonus: endpapers with labeled leaves. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10.5-by-18-inch double-page spreads viewed at actual size.) Appealing arboreal fantasy. (Picture book. 3-6) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
