Beautifully illustrated story about a boy talking to a tree, and the tree explains to the boy how one can lean on others for support. When the boy says he’s sad after losing grandpa, the tree explains how grandpa gave him life and that if the boy looks toward the light he too will grow like the tree did.

*Thank you NetGalley and Tommy Nelson for sending me this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.*

So. I'll start with the positive. This picture book is beautifully illustrated and I love how the topics of grief and change are conveyed. It had all the elements to win me over, and I was eager to recommend it to anyone searching for a children's book addressing these topics.

Unfortunately, all of this went to shit when I looked up the author and found out that he is openly racist and homophobic. Therefore, I cannot in good conscience recommend this book or even rate it more than one star.

There are so many great authors out there, let's not give bigots platforms.

A cute, sweet story with the most beautiful pictures. A lovely tale about a tree being what it was created to be and encouraging a young boy. The only thing that could have elevated this story would be a connection to our Creator, I felt that was missing in the story.

There is nothing like a children's book that brings you to tears as an adult. This charming story tells about a boy who goes in search of a special tree. As the boy holds a sweet and surprisingly informational conversation about how the tree grows, survives, and counts on other trees, he learns something truly special about the tree and about himself as he processes the loss of his grandfather. I will be purchasing a copy of this for my children's library, as well as for any classroom I teach in.

Up Towards the Light is a beautiful long conversation between a young boy and an old tree where the essential life secrets are revealed one by one.The old tree subtly imparts the life lessons to the grieving boy who misses his grandpa while comforting him and sharing his life experiences.The tree talks about forgiveness, birth, death, sadness, knowledge, bonding and love.He shares that life born from elements of nature, returns to nature ultimately and this truth is undeniable in case of living beings.

Written in layman's language, it's suitable for kids 4 years and above.The illustrated makes it simply too alluring.

This book is like a beautiful reminder to everyone, to stop and take a look at the nature surrounding you and stay grounded like the big tree.

This is book that seeks to teach children about how to deal with grief and loss. It is beautifully done, and the illustrations are stunning, though some aspects of it may be difficult for a younger reader to fully grasp.

For that reason, I think this is a book that's best read alongside someone older, who can explain some of the more abstract metaphorical lessons contained herein.

A young boy is instructed by his grandfather to go into nature and find one particular, very special tree - a red oak.

After the loss of a very beloved person in his life, the boy is able to have a conversation with the tree that not only teaches him a great deal about nature and trees but also provides a number of metaphorical lessons on life: how to grow, how to reach higher, how to heal.

The book does not explicitly address the issue of faith in terms of God, but can be interpreted to do so for those who wish to. It works very effectively in secular terms also, and thus is likely to have crossover appeal. It gets 3.5 stars rounded up to 4, half a star taken off because it feels like little too abstract at times for the targeted age group.

I received an ARC copy of this book via NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

At first, I wanted to pick up this book because of it being written by Granger Smith. His music puts me in mind of old country music. Not this pop/country crossover that it is today. So when I heard he had written a children’s book, I just had to read it.

My daughter and I read this during her tummy time. I’ll be honest I didn’t think I’d like it. I didn’t think it would be that good as it was written by a country music star. Even though the synopsis sounded good, I didn’t have much hope. Boy was I wrong.

I loved this book. I almost cried. I couldn’t believe the turn it took and how close to home it got. Talking about the loss of a family member so close to you is hard and even harder for a young child to understand. This to me is a perfect way to help explain loss and the legacy they leave behind. I loved this book and will be buying it not only for my daughter but for my nieces and nephews and even for my mom. This is an amazing book and I recommend it to everyone.

Up Towards the Light is a reflective story about a young boy who is directed by his grandpa to find a tree, after the death of his grandpa. What follows is a conversation between the boy and the tree about many important life learnings.

This story is full of rich messages about accepting people for who they are, the strength in working together, letting go in order to grow, growing at your own pace, and self compassion and moving on during grief. I felt some of the metaphors may be too abstract for young readers, but this would be a great read for their grownups to share with them and use as a prompt for sharing ideas and discussion.

The illustrations really shone and had a mesmerising golden tone which really brought the story to life. I really felt immersed in the forest with the boy and the tree.

Thank you Thomas Nelson: Children’s and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy of this book.

This picture book has lovely illustrations, and the story has a gentle, understated message about coping with grief. Throughout the book, a young boy has a conversation with a tree, and the dialogue teaches readers about trees and offers some metaphorical life lessons about dealing with grief and growing "up toward the light," instead of clinging to the people or things around us.

The story implies that we love people best by keeping them in their proper place in our lives, instead of idolizing them or building our identities on the relationship. That's a great message, but it's never directly stated or explained, and you have to extrapolate it from metaphors that will likely mean very little to the target audience. Adults of grieving kids may find this book profound and meaningful, and they can use it as a jumping-off point for conversation, but the story itself is way too abstract for young children.

Also, even though Christian readers can interpret the metaphor as a reminder to look to God, there is no faith content in the book. It only has a Christian meaning if you bring that meaning to it, and that surprised me, considering how open and passionate the author is about his faith. His conversion experience is a huge element of his memoir for adults, "Like a River: Finding the Faith and Strength to Move Forward after Loss and Heartache." I expected a similar emphasis on God here. This book's vagueness can give it broader, more mainstream appeal, but without a more specific, clear message, it's not nearly as powerful as it could have been.

Nice book that deals with grief in a round about way. Loved listening to the boy talking to the tree and the tree telling him stories. I felt a lot of love and caring in the story.

A pleasant read, but one that will appeal more to the parent/teacher/guardian as opposed to the child in the audience. A lad goes into the forest to speak to a tree – one specific red oak, to be precise – and it seems to be a conversation designed to teach us about trees by proxy. Only it's more than that, and the kid has other reasons for starting the conversation. This proves to be a gentle look at how life goes on through the generations, and it's very nice and all, with a lovely glowing 'golden hour' warmth to the visuals, but the older user will have to end up nudging the younger as to its actual meaning and purpose. That done it might be worth three and a half stars.