As an Oak Tree Grows

by G. Brian Karas, G. Brian Karas (Illustrator)

Overview

This inventive picture book relays the events of two hundred years from the unique perspective of a magnificent oak tree, showing how much the world can transform from a single vantage point. From 1775 to the present day, this fascinating framing device lets readers watch as human and animal populations shift and the landscape transitions from country to city. Methods of transportation, communication and energy use progress rapidly while other things hardly seem to change at all.
 
This engaging, eye-opening window into history is perfect for budding historians and nature enthusiasts alike, and the time-lapse quality of the detail-packed illustrations will draw readers in as they pore over each spread to spot the changes that come with each new era. A fact-filled poster is included to add to the fun.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780399252334
Publisher:	Penguin Young Readers Group
Publication date:	09/11/2014
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	1,035,530
Product dimensions:	10.10(w) x 11.70(h) x 0.50(d)
Age Range:	5 - 8 Years

About the Author

G. Brian Karas (www.gbriankaras.com) is the popular author and illustrator of numerous picture books, including On Earth and Atlantic (both ALA Notable Books). He lives in New York's Hudson Valley.

Editorial Reviews

Karas lives in the Hudson Valley and dedicated As an Oak Tree Grows to Pete Seeger, who was also a longtime resident. It's tempting to think of this lovely book, with its detailed gouache and pencil drawings, as also a homage to the Hudson Valley.

The New York Times Book Review - Jacqueline Briggs Martin

06/30/2014
Karas (On Earth) juxtaposes a steadily growing oak tree with the changing landscape around it in this engaging tale of transformation and constancy. It opens with a Native American boy planting an acorn on a forested hill. Subsequent scenes and to-the-point narration reveal how the forest gives way to farmland and a town, which grows into a city. More than 200 years pass and the oak provides a home for animals, swings, and a tree fort. Gouache and pencil illustrations maintain the same perspective throughout, inviting comparisons between elements in each spread and their more modern counterparts that follow (a canoe on the bay is replaced by schooners, steamships, and motorboats). After a poignant penultimate spread (logs are sawed up and driven away after lightning takes the giant tree), the story comes full circle with a sapling. A rapidly modernizing society, the resultant impact on the environment, and the constant, observant presence of nature are themes readers can start to grasp with this book. More simply, it’s a charming cycle-of-life story and an engaging chronicle of American urban history. Ages 5–8. Agent: Brenda Bowen, Sanford J. Greenburger Associates. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

Engaging tale of transformation and constancy. . . . [Invites] comparisons between elements in each spread and their more modern counterparts that follow. . . . A rapidly modernizing society, the resultant impact on the environment, and the constant, observant presence of nature are themes readers can start to grasp with this book. More simply, it’s a charming cycle-of-life story and an engaging chronicle of American urban history.” — Publishers Weekly

“Engaging. . . . Karas’s straightforward narration is informative and reflective. Detailed watercolor illustrations dramatically show the landscape evolving from rural to urban over time. . . . This fascinating time capsule will spark nature and history discussions.” — School Library Journal

“Clear and simple look at over two centuries of change in a single landscape. . . . Karas avoids editorializing. . . . Art has a friendly, intimate quality. . . . This will invite repeat visits.” — Kirkus Reviews

“Illustrations allow readers to see how generations alter the landscape . . . and variations in farming practices as well as the development of differing modes of transportation.” — The Horn Book

“The sweep of Karas’ pencil and gouache full-bleed spreads has all the majesty of good landscape, with the stately tree firmly rooted in the center of every scene, but his homey and accessible draftsmanship keeps the details human as well as intricate. . . . The hilltop prospect provides a particularly fine vista, and audiences will appreciate the small dramas and subtle alterations as well as the significant changes. If you’re near any large trees, this could spark your own local trip through history.” — The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

From the Publisher

The sweep of Karas’ pencil and gouache full-bleed spreads has all the majesty of good landscape, with the stately tree firmly rooted in the center of every scene, but his homey and accessible draftsmanship keeps the details human as well as intricate. . . . The hilltop prospect provides a particularly fine vista, and audiences will appreciate the small dramas and subtle alterations as well as the significant changes. If you’re near any large trees, this could spark your own local trip through history.

The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

Illustrations allow readers to see how generations alter the landscape . . . and variations in farming practices as well as the development of differing modes of transportation.

The Horn Book

07/01/2014
K-Gr 2—This engaging picture book charts the history of an oak tree that's more than 200 years old. Each page lists a year in the life of the tree, starting with an acorn planted by a young boy in 1775. The mighty oak survives decades of droughts and snowstorms until it is eventually felled by a lightning storm, at which point its life cycle continues in the form of "furniture, firewood and mulch." Karas's straightforward narration is informative and reflective. Detailed watercolor illustrations dramatically show the landscape evolving from rural to urban over time, also depicting the introduction of electricity, automobiles, and other new technologies. Amid this rapid change, the oak is steadfast, providing a nesting spot for birds, and beauty and shade for the community. This fascinating time capsule will spark nature and history discussions.—Linda Ludke, London Public Library, Ontario, Canada

School Library Journal

2014-07-16
From acorn to huge tree, an oak provides the focal point for this clear and simple look at over two centuries of change in a single landscape. A small boy plants an acorn in summer, close to a wigwam, high above a wide river. Though readers will guess that the tall ships that appear in the river by autumn don't belong to the same people whose canoe crosses toward shore in the first pages, Karas avoids editorializing. In the next pages, "The boy grew up and moved away. Farmers now lived here." The perspective stays: the growing tree, the river below, hills rolling away to the horizon. But seasons change, the occupants of the house on the land are different on each spread, and the landscape transforms by human hands through agriculture and construction. Karas' gouache-and-pencil art has a friendly, intimate quality. A timeline grows along the bottom of the page, beginning when the tree sprouts in 1775 and indicating the passage of time at a rate of 25 years per spread. The tree is brought down by a storm in 2000—here the narrative changes from past tense to a "you are there" present tense. Young readers may be charmed to realize that the tree sprout near the old oak's stump could by now be a sapling. This will invite repeat visits. (Informational picture book. 4-8)

Kirkus Reviews