Zee Grows a Tree

by Elizabeth Rusch, Will Hillenbrand (Illustrator)

Overview

A fact-filled story about a little girl and an evergreen tree that grow up side by side. Perfect for anyone who loves the natural world—or wonders about the origins of their holiday tree.

On the morning little Zee Cooper is born, a Douglas-fir seedling emerges from the nursery bed at her family’s Christmas tree farm. As Zee and the tree grow up together, they experience many of the same milestones. When Zee starts preschool, her tree is ready to start life outside the nursery. As Zee outgrows all her clothes, her tree grows taller, too. When Zee gets a whole new look for kindergarten, her tree gets a spiffy transformation as well. And as the years go on, Zee takes loving care of her tree, watering it through heat waves and protecting it from winter winds. Combining interesting details about how trees are grown and cared for on a farm with the sweet story of a friendship between a girl and her special tree, Zee Grows a Tree offers a blend of fiction and nonfiction that will draw the interest of young nature lovers everywhere. In the back of the book, readers will find an index, bibliography, and an author’s note suggesting some ways to enjoy a holiday tree without cutting one down.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780763697549
Publisher:	Candlewick Press
Publication date:	03/04/2021
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	1,106,099
Product dimensions:	10.00(w) x 10.94(h) x 0.40(d)
Age Range:	5 - 8 Years

About the Author

Elizabeth Rusch is an award-winning author of fifteen books for children, many of which have received multiple starred reviews. Her titles include The Mighty Mars Rover; Ready, Set . . . Baby!; The Music of Life: Bartolomeo Cristofori and the Invention of the Piano; and Electrical Wizard: How Nikola Tesla Lit Up the World. Elizabeth Rusch lives in Portland, Oregon.

Will Hillenbrand has written and illustrated dozens of books. He is the illustrator of Bear in Love and Bear and Bunny, both by Daniel Pinkwater, and I’m a Duck by Eve Bunting. He lives in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Editorial Reviews

04/05/2021

When the white Cooper parents, owners of Coopers’ Christmas Tree Farm, welcome daughter Zee, the infant receives a potted Douglas-fir seedling labeled “Zee’s Tree.” In simple prose, Rusch details Zee’s life from birth to age eight, paralleling her yearly milestones with the tree’s, the growth of which is bolstered by the compassionate care the child provides: “When summer arrived, Zee outgrew all her clothes. Zee’s tree grew, too, reaching a foot higher in just one month!” Facts about Douglas-firs, printed in a smaller font, also feature on intermittent pages (“Douglas-firs enter a period of inactivity in the winter called dormancy”). Hillenbrand’s mixed-media illustrations employ a soft, classic picture book style, with dot-eyed human figures in a sweet, friendly palette. Aspiring botanists will welcome this detailed examination of Douglas-firs. Back matter includes an index, holiday tree suggestions, and additional resources. Ages 5–8. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

On the day that Zee was born, a Douglas-fir seedling planted on her parents’ Christmas tree farm began growing. As Zee grew up and developed, so did the tree. This beautifully designed picture book follows their development, showing readers how Zee and the tree changed and grew over time...This title is a brilliant combination of storytelling and factual information. The narrative celebrates a caring family and a young girl’s growing love of nature. The information adds to readers’ understanding and appreciation of the natural world. Highly recommended.
—School Library Journal (starred review)

A little girl and a Douglas fir grow together on a Christmas tree farm...Informative factual text about Douglas firs and their care accompanies each stage of Zee’s and her tree’s parallel growth while gentle, realistic illustrations, rendered in soft color washes, visually chronicle their emerging relationship. Zee and her parents present White. A delightful blend of fact and fiction.
—Kirkus Reviews

In simple prose, Rusch details Zee’s life from birth to age eight, paralleling her yearly milestones with the tree’s, the growth of which is bolstered by the compassionate care the child provides. . . Hillenbrand’s mixed-media illustrations employ a soft, classic picture book style, with dot-eyed human figures in a sweet, friendly palette. Aspiring botanists will welcome this detailed examination of Douglas-firs.
—Publishers Weekly

Sure to earn a place in your heart.
—Let's Grow

From the Publisher

★ 02/01/2021

K-Gr 3—On the day that Zee was born, a Douglas-fir seedling planted on her parents' Christmas tree farm began growing. As Zee grew up and developed, so did the tree. This beautifully designed picture book follows their development, showing readers how Zee and the tree changed and grew over time. For example, when Zee started kindergarten, she adopted a new fashion style. In turn, she shaped the tree and pruned its top and sides the way tree farmers do. When Zee was in the second grade, she lost three teeth. At this time, the tree sprouted new buds at the top and started growing branches. Two levels of text move the narrative along—larger-size font details the story of the girl and the tree and smaller-sized font provides additional information about Douglas-firs. Readers learn about dormancy, how trees keep from freezing in the winter, how farmers can add nutrients to the soil, and that an uncut Douglas-fir can live for hundreds of years and grow more than 300 feet tall. At the same time, the unfolding family story is subtly told through words and illustrations. At the end of the story, readers learn that the tree is ready to become a "holiday tree." The illustrations show that the tree has not been cut down. Instead, Zee has decorated it outside. VERDICT This title is a brilliant combination of storytelling and factual information. The narrative celebrates a caring family and a young girl's growing love of nature. The information adds to readers' understanding and appreciation of the natural world. Highly recommended.—Myra Zarnowski, City Univ. of New York

School Library Journal

2020-11-27
A little girl and a Douglas fir grow together on a Christmas tree farm.

On the day of Zee’s birth, a Douglas-fir seedling, planted by her parents, also sprouts. Zee’s parents take care of Zee and her tree, and both “[grow] bigger and stronger.” When Zee starts preschool, her tree is transplanted outdoors. As Zee makes new friends and learns the alphabet, her tree experiences new animals and changing weather. On her fourth birthday, Zee is shorter than her classmates and her tree is shorter than other trees, but that summer both have growth spurts. When Zee starts kindergarten, she “[gets] a whole new look,” and her tree is pruned into a “perfect cone shape.” And on it goes, Rusch’s gentle text describing her protagonists’ parallel growth. Zee’s education continues in first grade, and her tree learns “how to turn a branch into a new treetop.” Zee’s adult teeth grow in, and her tree sprouts new branches. During a spring and summer drought, Zee, now old enough to take part in its care, faithfully waters her parched tree, going on to mulch it in fall and screen it in winter. By Zee’s eighth birthday, her tree is old and tall enough to be a Christmas tree. Informative factual text about Douglas firs and their care accompanies each stage of Zee’s and her tree’s parallel growth while gentle, realistic illustrations, rendered in soft color washes, visually chronicle their emerging relationship. Zee and her parents present White.

A delightful blend of fact and fiction. (index, author's note, bibliography) (Picture book. 5-8)

Kirkus Reviews