The Tree and the River

by Aaron Becker

Other authorsAaron Becker (Illustrator)
Hardcover, 2023

Status

Available

Publication

Candlewick (2023), 32 pages

Description

"In an alternate past--or possible future--a mighty tree stands on the banks of a winding river, bearing silent witness to the flow of time and change. A family farms the fertile valley. Soon, a village sprouts, and not long after, a town. Residents learn to harness the water, the wind, and the animals in order to survive and thrive. The growing population becomes ever more industrious and clever, bending nature itself to their will and their ambition: redirecting rivers, harvesting lumber, reshaping the land, even extending daylight itself ..."--

User reviews

LibraryThing member melodyreads
Eons of time transpire, as humans come, build, build more, go to war, suffer decline and disappear.
A little bleak.
The tree drops acorns that float off to become new trees, and the process may begin again.
LibraryThing member fionaanne
Visually stunning and conceptually wonderful.
LibraryThing member KristenRoper
A beautiful wordless book that views a tree and a river bend through the centuries as civilizaitons rise and fall in that location. The civilizations are clearly fictional, but with recognizable stages.
LibraryThing member villemezbrown
A wordless picture book of time-lapse images copies Robert Crumb's classic "A Short History of America" cartoon to give the history of a bend in the river and the tree that sits next to it on a fantasy world with some advances and setbacks similar to the ones in our world.

Some of the time jumps
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were easier to follow than others, but I suppose the reader can make up any story they want to fill in the gaps left by the author. I just didn't find myself engaged enough to want to bother.
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Awards

New England Book Award (Finalist — Children's — 2023)
CCBC Choices (Picture Books — 2024)

Language

Original language

English

Original publication date

2023

Physical description

32 p.; 11.13 x 9.75 inches

ISBN

1536223298 / 9781536223293

Barcode

18003772
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