A powerful touching story that everyone should read (adults and children).

WISHTREE by award-winning author Katherine Applegate is written with late elementary and middle schoolers in mind. The story centers on Red, a wise older oak tree, who relates to both humans and the many animals in the neighborhood. It is a gentle story of friendship and starts out filled with simple scientific facts and background, primarily about Red. The power of wishes and acceptance is explored, though, when WISHTREE deals creatively with issues of anti-Muslim bigotry due to a new family moving nearby. The publisher provides an excerpt and online discussion guide with suggested activities for this well-reviewed novel; Applegate's latest title received starred reviews from Booklist, Kirkus, Publishers Weekly and School Library Journal.

4.5 stars

Link in live post: https://us.macmillan.com/wishtree/katherineapplegate/9781250043221/

Red, the oak tree, has had a long life. Animals have lived in and around her for over 100 years. A tradition has grown up around her where the townspeople hang their wishes on May 1st.

Lately, things have shifted. People in the neighborhood have become fearful of some new residents and the owner of the land and the tree has forgotten its rich heritage. Can Red mend the differences and help forge a friendship between two young people? Can she save herself in the process?

Beautiful, simple, powerful.

I have always been a lover of Kathrine Applegate books, this book is no different. What a poignant story of family life and community. I loved that the tree was a character; very Katherine Applegate. I can't wait to share this middle grade novel when I go to my local elementary schools for book talks.

I cannot get over how beautiful, sweet, and lovely this story is! I told someone after I read it, if it doesn't win the Newbery, I am going to sob!!! I cannot recommend this book enough. It would be a wonderful read aloud or bedtime story. It would also be a super classroom read that would spark some great discussions. I will NEVER look at a tree the same again!

This is an amazing and beautiful book. It is a deceptively simple book that looks like it is for a younger audience. I think younger kids will love the book, but I think older kids will love it as well, especially because it deals with something much more complex than it initially appears to.

I don’t think I’ve read a book where a tree was a main character and that had such personality. I loved Red’s relationships with all of the animals that lived in and around her. I also liked the animal’s names, and Red’s explanations as to why they were called that. It seemed very animal like. Red’s need to protect them was wonderful, even though there was often very little she could do for them. Red was a very nurturing character, and her need to help every one came out of the tradition and nature of being the Wishtree.

Stephen and Samar were great characters. Very typical kids with desires to belong and to have friends. I loved the different ways that Red came up with to get the two of them together, I also liked that it was evident that their parents would not become instant friends just because their kids were. It would take time and perhaps still not happen.

The illustrations in the book were beautiful and helped to tell the story as well. Sometime illustrations can detract from a story but not in this case. They really helped to build Red’s character as well as the animals and humans who populated the story. They made them seem more real.

There is some magical realism in the story, but it is done well and with an almost a dreamlike quality that made it much more special and important. The ending was magical as well, but in a way that almost made it seem possible. A beautiful story that on the surface appears simple but is really quite complex.

I was already a fan of Katherine Applegate. I have a deep and abiding love for <i>The One and Only Ivan</i>. After reading <i>Wishtree</i>, my fondness for Applegate continues.

It is a gentle book with an important message - and one can interpret that message at the basic level of "Be kind to one another" or a much more inclusive message. It is not action-packed but does not need to be - the characters, thoughts, and dialogue carry the book deftly. <i>Wishtree</i> is narrated by Red, a mighty oak who has stood by the side of people in the neighborhood for multiple generations, seeing some stories seeming to repeat themselves over the years.

I have seen some plot summaries so don't want to add another one here. I loved the depiction of the Wishing Day tradition, especially some of the wishes that were written. I also enjoyed the way the various animals chose names (for example, crows sometimes pick their names based on their favorite sounds while opossums are named after what they fear). I will say that the importance of this book is in the lessons we learn from the children - not the adults. It is a lonely child who wistfully sits under Red in the silent nighttime and is comforted by nature - Red and his animal residents. It is a child who sets some events in motion by hatefully carving a word into Red's trunk (a child whose opinions are likely shaped by those of his family and/or friends). And it is a child who sees past his own parents' attitudes and perceptions to take steps to right some wrongs.

Although my students would read and enjoy this independently, I look forward to using it also as a read aloud to savor the story with them and to discuss the messages they are taking from it.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher, Macmillan Children's Publishing Group, for the opportunity to read the ARC in return for an honest review.

This is quite a timely story with an interesting magical realism twist. A tree recounts its experiences in a neighborhood as it changes. This tree has become a symbol and place for people to express hopes and dreams in notes tied to the branches. The tree has never talked to a person or intervened in someone's life, only the animals who call it home, though it is capable. But a new family, a Muslim family, moves into the neighborhood and the daughter is so desperate for friends and acceptance that the tree feels compelled to act. This is an idealistic story, to be sure, but I can't help feeling like that is what it needs to be. Since it is from the tree's perspective, the tree and animals are much more developed characters, and some side characters can feel formulaic at times, but I thought overall it was a well written, engaging, and enjoyable story. In the end, I felt not only empathy for the people, but also for the tree itself, and its inhabitants. I'm glad this book exists.

I had the opportunity to read a digital ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for this review. This middle grade novel looks at the world through the eyes of Red, a red oak tree that is two hundred and sixteen rings old and has watched the comings and goings of this neighborhood for a long time. Through the years, people have attached their wishes to the branches of this tree and now Red has some wishes, too. Red wishes to go on being a home to a wide variety of animal friends and for the people in the neighborhood to be accepting and tolerant of each other. Both of those wishes appear to be in jeopardy as the owner of the property where Red lives wants to cut the huge tree down and a hateful message directed at one of the families in the neighborhood is carved into Red’s trunk.

I like that the entire story is told from Red’s perspective. This would pair well with Applegate’s The One and Only Ivan. Both of these books are good mentor texts for writing using different points of view and both have nonhuman protagonists with limited capabilities working very hard to make changes for the better and to make wishes come true. Red loves Samar, the girl who lives in a house near his tree. Samar spends a great deal of time sitting quietly with Red and the animals that make the tree their home. But Samar is very lonely and makes a wish to have a friend. Stephen lives next door to Samar, but he and his parents have been reluctant to befriend Samar and her family. But a stranger carves an unkind message directed at Samar’s family, and Red becomes determined to help bring Samar and Stephen together as friends.

There are lots of good messages about friendship, tolerance, and the importance of preserving animal habitats. I do think that more could be told about the families of Samar and Stephen and the reasons for their animosity towards each other. There also could be more told about the boy who carved the nasty message into Red’s trunk and his motives for doing that. But, this could also lead to some good discussions with young readers making inferences about the motives of these characters and predictions about what may happen beyond what the author tells us. It also would be fun to compare this book with The One and Only Ivan.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ to Katherine Applegate's "Wishtree". Loved this sweet, uplifting tale with a tree as the narrator! I will definitely be picking this up in September.

What a fantastically beautiful book! And so relevant to kids growing up right now..

Lovely story ... beautifully written ... Katherine Applegate knows just how to get a message across to young and old alike.

What a lovely, quietly potent book this is. I loved the "Wise Old Tree" narration...and the crow sidekick who routinely punches holes in the "Wise Old Tree's" wise-old tree routine. I also appreciated the way the book approaches the issue of Islamophobia indirectly: this isn't an edgy, brutal look at the issue, but rather, one that puts what's happening to its young Muslim character, Samar, in the historical context that only a 200-year-old tree that's witnessed the arrival and the hardships of wave after wave of American immigrants can provide.

_Wishtree_ is also realistic: when the tree's varied occupants--squirrels, possums, birds, and skunks--all come together to prevent the tree from being cut down, they still grumble at each other. They can come together for a common cause, but it doesn't erase their differences. Similarly, while Samar and her neighbor Stephen become friends, "their parents still don't talk to each other" at the book's end.

Some readers might be unhappy that the book doesn't offer a more explicit or enthusiastic "lesson" about multiculturalism, but I liked the fact that _Wishtree_ doesn't patronize its young readers by telling them what they were supposed to learn. And the fact that Stephen and Samar stay friends despite their parents' failure to is a hopeful reminder that children really are the future, and that many of them are more open, compassionate people than the adults in their lives.

Another win for Katherine Applegate. I could not put this book down. It is a simple idea, a tree which has watched generations who have lived in the houses around it. Each year, people put "wishes" on pieces of cloth and add them to their branches. One day the tree is vandalized and the neighbors blame each other. The author explores the various situations the tree has witnessed and the story will relate with middle graders. A great read aloud.

As one of today's eminent children's lit authors, Katherine Applegate has again taken a current topical issue and distilled it down to an endearing, hopeful story that, in her own words, does not end "happily ever after". As she admits, "life is messy". Although somethings change and somethings don't, we can be optimistic about the future. Hope combined with action can bring about positive social change to make the world better for everyone. A message we can all learn from.

I wasn't surprised that I loved this new story by Katherine Applegate. This book has been getting so much love in my twitter feed all summer that I couldn't wait to read it myself. Now I can't wait to share Red's story with the students at my school. We'll have an extra connection because our school is called Oak Knoll and we have some giant old oak trees on our campus. The characters were so great. The different animal families, the names, and Bongo. I really loved Bongo. Looking forward to getting this book out into the world of readers.

Katherine Applegate has such a clever way of pointing out human frailty through the eyes of animals or in this case, a tree and animals. Red is a wish tree and every year the townspeople come and place their wishes on her branches. The small birds and animals who live in and around Red are her friends and she has watched over them for decades. Everything seems to be going well until a family moves into the neighborhood who is different and not everyone is welcoming. Red and her friends try to help two children heal the unrest by becoming friends. It is not an easy task and I had to giggle over some of the clever ways they try to get the kids to work together. Red has another problem which might mean the end of her but with a little help from her friends things might be ok. A sweet and gentle reminder to all of us that being different isn't a bad thing and we should all have a bit more tolerance. My thanks to the publisher for the advance copy.

Wonderful, beautiful, eloquent, and timely. This should be required reading for all.

This is a fantastic book geared for late Elementary school and Middle school aged kids reaching into the depths of friendship, kindness, tolerance, and hope. So many elements gives this book a wide range of topics to discuss. A must read for all...