“What do you see” “A piece of wood…” “Sure. But what could it become?”
The Branch by Mireille Messier and Pierre Pratt
When I was little I loved to climb trees. My favorite tree was our cherry tree and I loved her so much that I named her Cheryl. Cheryl had a special branch that was perfect for me to sit on. It seemed made for me. It was my special spot and I went there when I wanted to cloud watch and dream and I went there when my heart was hurting and I wanted to be left alone. So, when I heard the premise for this upcoming book I just knew that it would be one I needed to check out.
It is about a little girl who has a special branch in her tree that she feels about similarly to how I felt about my branch. However, one night her town is hit by a ginormous freezing rain storm and her branch is broken of the tree. Her little heart is broken until her neighbor Frank explains to her that her branch can still be hers, it just needs a new life. He teaches her that you can turn tragedy into opportunity and that things can be made anew, even if that means that they are different than they were before. When he saw her broken branch he told her what he saw wasn’t a broken branch, but potential. So together they worked and worked to turn her branch into something new.
I love this book. The story is one that is relatable on so many levels. It would make a great discussion starter as well as a typical bedtime story. I love the unique illustrations as well. The colors are vivid and done in a way that leads me to believe that each one must have been hand painted. This style works especially well to convey the storm. Beautiful!
The Branch comes out Fall 2016.
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