TOM’S TREE

Both trees and boys grow in their own way. Little Tom plants a seed near his house, and older brother Ned teases that it will never grow. But Tom is highly focused; his dreams for the tree vault ahead of its development. He imagines peacocks singing in the high branches and a tree house like a pirate ship. Days and weeks pass, and the ground remains unchanged; Tom gives up hope. But the seasons pass, and, when spring comes again, it’s Ned who notices the beginning of a tree. Tom’s dreams take flight again. He waters, watches and even builds a fence around his tree-to-be. Years pass. Tom grows up; his tree grows more slowly. Many years later, the adult Tom and his young son Edward visit the tall tree, in which Edward can see the peacocks and the pirate ship. Raynor’s stylishly simple illustrations complement the minimalism of Shields’s text, juxtaposing earthily round-headed, dot-eyed tots against Tom’s florid imaginings. Subtle but sublime. (Picture book. 3-6)