Cover Image: The Old Oak Tree (pb)

The Old Oak Tree (pb)

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Member Reviews

A beautiful book about a year in the life of a bird. Great pictures and fun lyrical words. Wonderful read aloud for kids.

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This is a lovely tale of how one tree touches so many lives. Based on a song, the rhyme flows nicely, and would be fun to read aloud. I loved the beautiful collage art by Angela Doak.

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A decent enough cycle-of-life picture book, but not the best of its kind. This focuses on an oak tree, as you probably guessed, as seen through the eyes of a charming robin. The tree gives nesting materials, shelter, and the strength inherent in its being to keep the bird – and other wildlife, from the fox on up – safe, until a storm that proves not even the mightiest tree is strong enough. But even though it's felled it doesn't mean it's story over. The narrative as we get it is in rhyme, with a very strong verse/chorus divide – four lines of verse on the left-hand page, with the chorus (always different and yet so very much the same) on the right-hand. The score comes last, so we can sing along if in the company of a musical friend. That distinction proves that this might stay to hand longer than some books, but neither in the script nor the visuals did I find much to make that happen naturally – I'm all for musical accompaniment to young reads like this, but sometimes that is the thing that forces we give it our attention more than it normally deserves. Three and a half stars.

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I love reading books to young children that feature songs, and this is a beautiful example of that. My children, at least, memorize these books much faster than ones in prose and while that isn't the goal of reading, it is fun to sing and remember the book together while we're driving or taking a walk.
This book is written in verse and tells the story of a robin living in an oak tree. It shows how the oak, in life and death, provide shelter and home to animals and how nature is interconnected.

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I love everything about this book! Young children will enjoy the rhyming song layer is as well as the pictures. The book depicts the circle of life in a beautiful way!

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Lovely pictures. Nice story about the old oak tree and her robin. A comforting story.

I received an advanced review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

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I like that this book not only rhymed but had a song that you could hypothetically sing the book to. The illustrations were beautiful and the story about the circle of life was simple and easy for children to interact with. This would be a good storytime book for springtime.

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This is a sweet story for younger kids. It follows the story of an old oak tree who is home to a robin and several other woodland creatures. I loved the message and the illustrations. My 7 year old read it to me, and she appreciated the story and the images, but said she probably wouldn’t come back to it. It would be lovely for toddlers through preschoolers. It’s also simple enough that a beginning reader might really enjoy it.

Overall, I would buy this as a gift for the younger kids in my life, so I do highly recommend it!

Thank you to Nimbus Publishing and NetGalley for the advance read e-book copy. I can imagine this will be absolutely beautiful in print! :)

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What beautiful illustrations to pair with a charming story. This picture book was a pleasant read with a meaningful message to all. Not only was the story good and paired with wonderful illustrations, it can be used as a song with the provided music at the end. Such a great read, and I am glad that I had the opportunoty to read something that was done so well. I would recommend this book to many.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advance copy of this book provided by the publisher via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

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A lovely tale of the life cycle of an oak tree. This could be well used in the classroom to show the importance of nature.

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I loved this book – I loved everything about it from the front cover to the last page, everything about this book worked for me.

I loved the story, I loved how it was written and the repetitive parts with the slight tweaks as the book progressed. I loved the character of the robin to tell the story as well and the illustrations are just wonderful and bring the story to life.

It is a really lovely story that has been put together really well and it is one of the best children’s books that I have read for a while. I love the addition of the music too at the end so it can also be sung as well

No hesitation at all in giving this story 5 stars – a lovely read

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