Book Review: The Tree of Life: How a Holocaust Sapling Inspired the World by Eliza Boxer and Alianna Rozentsveig

The Tree of Life: How a Holocaust Sapling Inspired the World
by Elisa Boxer (author) and Alianna Rozentsveig (illutrator) (j 940.531 Box)

This is an attractive little non-fiction historical book for youth readers, done in picture book format, written by Elisa Boxer with illustrations by Alianna Rozentsveig. It tells a story that begins during World War II in the Terezin concentration camp but which has repercussions through today.

 

Jewish teacher Irma Lauscher risked breaking protocols in the camp by asking one of the other prisoner workers to smuggle in a tree sapling, which she could use to give the children in the camp a project to occupy their time. That fellow worker managed to conceal a small maple tree sapling in his boot as he returned to the camp one evening. Irma and her illicit class of students planted the sapling and each child shared part of their meager daily allotment of water to help the small tree flourish.

 

The book details how the tree survived, and its seeds have been shared around the world, to create other trees that are offspring of the original — to show that even during the worst possible hardships, it is possible to keep something alive through love and concerted efforts.

 

This was a moving story, and one I’d never heard about before reading the book. It provides a marvelous introduction to children on a difficult subject. And the art is terrific. Strongly recommended.

 

( official Elisa Boxer web site ) | ( official Alianna Rozentsveig web site )

 

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

 

Have you read or listened to this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!

National Geographic Pocket Guide to the Trees and Shrubs of North America by Bland Crowder

National Geographic Pocket Guide to the Trees & Shrubs of North America
by Bland Crowder [582.16 Cro] 

The first thing that grabbed my attention about this small, pocket-size, guide was the beautiful photo of the trunk of a majestic Sequoia on the cover. That was enough to make me browse this handy, helpful little tree guide. 95% of this book is dedicated to specific breeds or varieties of trees. The remaining 5% covers general tree-growing information, including charts showing growing zones throughout the U.S. and Canada.

But it is the tree identification pages that are the most fun to page through. Each tree gets a single page in the book, with one large photo of a sample of the tree, fully leafed out. At the top of each page is the tree’s scientific name and its common average height. Accompanying the photo in the middle of each page is a list of “Key Facts”, including info about the tree’s general appearance, the leaves, the flowers/fruits and the growing range (i.e. where in the country you’ll find this variety). The bottom half of the page features a more detailed description of the nature of the tree — things about its appearance, growing pattern, root system, etc., accompanied by artists’ renderings of samples of the leaves, seeds/nuts and/or blooms.

Admittedly, the small size of this volume means that there are not detailed full-length articles about each type of tree, but the libraries have plenty of other books that go into more detail. If you’re looking for a simple, portable guide, perhaps to take while on a leisure hike on a wilderness trail, this will help you identify the trees you encounter, with helpful clear illustrations.

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library

Have you read this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewers recommendations!