This is one of the best children's books I have ever had the pleasure of reading. The first time I read it I was proof reading before I read it to my niece. The next thing I knew I closed the book with tears streaming down my cheeks and my family asking me in worried tones 'What's wrong?' since that moment I have tried to introduce as many people as I could to this story. Every child I have ever read it to also loved it. It brings smiles to their faces along with laughter and sadness. It helped them start to understand the loss of something important and how to appreciate the little things in life. Such as a tree named Steve.
David Catrow's illustrations are wonderful, as always. However, a family comes in, clears the land, decides to save one tree, it blows down in a storm. Generally, trees do not blow down in storms if they are surrounded by other trees. It's analogous to a culture coming in, killing all of the native adults, and then being fatalistic as to why the children die.
