THE NUT THAT FELL FROM THE TREE

The antiquated “House That Jack Built” gets a makeover for 21st-century readers.

“This is the house where Jill plays.” A light-skinned girl, wearing a magician’s hat and cape, is in a treehouse atop a huge oak. The art is colorful, one-dimensional, and cartoonlike. The next double-page spread adds “This is the oak that holds the house where Jill plays” and then “This is the nut that fell from the oak that holds the house where Jill plays.” The nut is, of course, an acorn. The acorn gets bounced around and pounced upon by various animals, including a rat, a blue jay, a raccoon, and more. As the text increases, so do the number of animals on each light-green page. Cleverly, every humorous line about a new animal rhymes with “rat looking out from a shoe,” right through to a skunk that elicits “PEE-EW!” from the other animals. Those animals flee; text and art dramatically minimize. A shorter second stanza, beginning with “This is the sun,” introduces a more contemplative mood as it links the life spans of oaks with humans. It is also less likely than the first stanza to be memorized by youngsters, as it follows a less-predictable pattern. Stanza two changes the book from a simple cumulative tale to deeper food for thought, but unfortunately, the style of art is much better suited for stanza one. (This book was reviewed digitally with 8.5-by-22-inch double-page spreads viewed at 56% of actual size.)

A good, if not totally coherent, look at a tree’s life cycle.