Who Would Like a Christmas Tree?

Ellen Bryan Obed
Illustrated by Anne Hunter

Life on a Christmas tree farm is busy year round and it’s not just the farmer who has things to do. January through December the wildlife is depending on the tree farm for food and shelter. From the black-capped chickadees who count on the Christmas trees for three meals a day, to the field mice who never hibernates and nibbles the bark under the snow safe from predators. The white-tailed deer that snacks early in the morning and late in the day, and the robins that sit atop the Christmas trees and sings as the sun comes up and down each day, the tree farm is bustling with life well beyond the farmer and her family. Wild turkeys, wild flowers, monarch butterflies, and even garden spiders depend on the Christmas tree farm to be fed and protected, during the year. But what keeps the Christmas tree farm going? Each December families go to the plantation to choose their special Christmas tree. The farmer provides hot cider and spicy Christmas cookies for each family.

This book is a great reminder to every one of the practical resources that trees provide to wildlife. At the end of the book there is a description of how the farmer takes care of her Christmas tree farm. Educationally speaking, this book earns an “A”. While the colorful watercolor and ink illustrations complete the text, making it a more than a non-fiction piece, but a story-telling gem.

BIBLIO: 2009, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Ages 4 - 8, $16.00
REVIEWER: Debby Willett
FORMAT: Juvenile Non-Fiction
ISBN: 978-0-547-04625-9
REVIEWED FOR: Children’s Literature, Online Version, 9/27/09