Through the Looking Glass Children's Book Reviews
Little Tree
Illustrator: Deborah Kogan Ray
Picture Book
For ages 5 to 8
Random House, 2010 ISBN: 978-0517881781
One cold day before Christmas, a boy and his sister see a small Christmas tree in a Christmas tree lot on the city sidewalk. The tiny little tree looks very alone, and the children decide that they have to do something to make the tree feel wanted and special.
Back at their house, the children pull out “spangles,” “balls,” “chains,” and “fluffy threads” and soon the little tree is decorated within an inch of its life so that there isn’t “a single place dark or unhappy” among its branches. Once the tree is all “dressed” in its finery, the children put their prize and joy in the window “for everyone to see.”
In this book, e.e. cummings’ warming little poem is paired with Deborah Kogan Ray’s distinctive artwork. Young readers will immediately identify with the two children in the story who so much want to make the little tree that they find feel loved and appreciated.
