Leave the trees, please

Zephaniah's assonant lines urge arboreal protection as Castrillón's sinuous renderings memorably tell a parallel story of eco-appreciation and protest. Riffing on the title, opening lines establish a refrain, while a brown-skinned figure breathes deeply beneath the boughs of a magnificent thick-trunked deciduous specimen: "Leave the trees, please./ Because the trees/ work with the breeze/ to put all living things at ease." First-person lines reveal a speaker's intimate connection with a tree that is "one thousand/ and five hundred years old." Vignettes crafted with swirling emerald and auburn lines see that individual befriending another child, graduating alongside them, and then gazing at a newborn who matures over subsequent pages. When a white X appears on the beloved tree's trunk, text grows stern ("Trees make oxygen./ Let me say that again./ Trees make oxygen"), and the family successfully protests for a rallying takeaway in support of conservation. Background figures are portrayed with varied skin tones. An endnote discusses photosynthesis and means of protest. Ages 4--8. (Feb.)

Stunning illustrations showcasing one family's connection to trees are paired with spare, lyrical text from the late British poet Zephaniah. The story opens with a Black child peacefully enjoying nature in the shade of a prodigious tree. A pale-skinned youngster joins the first child, and the tree remains a constant presence as time passes and the pair become adults and have a little one together. But when nearby trees are felled and their ancient, beloved tree is marked for destruction, the couple's brown-skinned, pigtailed child becomes distraught. The family joins a community protest to save the trees. Zephaniah's text is an uncomplicated, wholly sincere love letter to trees and a call to action to save them, encapsulated in the repeated refrain "Leave the trees, please. / Because the trees / work with the breeze / to put all living things at ease." Dominated by shades of burnt orange, reds, and greens, Castrillón's striking art depicts a forest filled with lush flora and fauna that comes alive due to the illustrator's deft use of wavy line movement. The text and images are each excellent on their own, but they enhance each other as they work together, creating both a universal plea and a specific, moving story. Backmatter explains photosynthesis and suggests ways kids can protect our planet. An exquisitely crafted ode to trees, sure to inspire budding environmental activists.(Picture book. 4-8) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.