A Tree for All Seasons

A Tree for All Seasons

Author: Robin Bernard

Photographer: National Geographic

Genre: Nonfiction/Informational

Grade Level: Kindergarten

Blog Post 1

 

Have you ever wondered what changes occur from season to season? Where do animals go? What happens to the trees? What weather changes occur? This book provides the answers to these questions and more!

This informational book is organized by season, beginning with winter. At the start of the book, there is a picture to show what a maple tree looks like all year round, from winter to autumn. The main premise of the book is the observation of a maple tree over time. Children see a clear picture of what this tree does and how the seasons change. In the winter, the tree is bare and it becomes almost dormant. Although it appears to be dead, there is still the miracle of life occurring within. Squirrels nap in its crevices, and birds sing on the branches. At this time of the year, farmers collect sugar maple sap and make maple syrup. A young boy eats pancakes with the maple syrup made from the sap. In the spring, the tree comes alive again with leaf buds and flower tassels. Birds build their nests on its branches, and the rain and sun help the tree to bloom. In summer, the tree is in the warm sun and covered with leaves. Chipmunks eat the fruit called “samaras” that grows on the tree. In autumn, the leaves dry up and turn bright colors. The animals get ready for winter by hiding nuts and seeds. 

This book is fun, informational, and easy to read. Seasonally accurate information is accompanied by colorful photographs representing aspects of the seasons. The text is large and is content appropriate for kindergarteners. The vocabulary of the seasons is challenging, however still age-appropriate. The organization of A Tree for All Seasons is very reader-friendly. It begins with winter, and sequentially moves through to autumn. It follows the logical order of the seasons. Each time a new season is introduced, the author first begins talking about the changes occurring physically on the entire maple tree. The first picture in each season represents the current state of the tree in correspondence to the season. Then, it moves onto the activities of the animals, followed by the activities of humans. This book is organized in a way that is easy to read and follow. 

The design of the book is probably its most intriguing aspect. It is great for youngsters who appreciate bright colors and beautiful pictures.  The photographs are very colorful and interesting. There are up close images of squirrels, chipmunks, birds, horses, and ducks. Also, the parts of the trees that change during the seasons are shown up close in the photographs. The text that describes each photograph sit next to, above, under, or on each photo. The key vocabulary words that the author deems important are highlighted in red. 

It is evident that the author is passionate about learning. She wants to help children to correlate animals and states of a maple tree to different seasons. Also, she helps to make the book more relatable to children by providing activities that other people do during each season, such as eat maple syrup, play on a swing, or play in the crunchy leaves.

I would absolutely use this A Tree for All Seasons in a classroom. It is one of the best picture book about seasons I have ever read. It is organized, fun, bright, while being accurate and informative.

MA Standards:

ELA

RI.K.1. With prompting and support, ask and answer questions about key details in a text.

RI.K.2. With prompting and support, identify the main topic and retell key details of a text.

RI.K.4. With prompting and support, ask and answer questions about unknown words in a text.

RI.K.7. With prompting and support, describe the relationship between illustrations and the story in which they appear (e.g., what moment in a story an illustration depicts).

Science

MA.K.3. Describe the weather changes from day to day and over the seasons.

MA.K.5. Identify some events around us that have repeating patterns, including the seasons of the year, day and night.