Montanari, Susan. (2019). Halloween Tree. Sourcebooks Jabberwocky.
*Downloadable activity sheets at the end of the post!
At Christmastime, (stay with me folks), there was a Christmas tree lot. The saplings were wide-eyed and excited, wanting to be like the great big Christmas tree at the front of the lot with the lights and decorations.
But there was one little sapling who was a little different. (the looks on these kids’ faces and the mom just kill me.)
It was grumpy, and cross, with less needles and exclaimed it didn’t want decorations and it didn’t like people. Hrmph. It wanted to stay exactly where it was. (look at this adorable spider who has fallen in love with it). It was determined! So much so that if it even thought of becoming a Christmas tree it’s needles would brown and fall off!
Soon, the Christmas tree lot emptied and the little tree was the only one left. Then houses started to be built all around it. It grew taller and more curvy and bumpy. The new families didn’t quite know what to make of it.
“Yikes,” a boy named Ben cried. “That tree looks gruuummpy.” But then the children, doing what children do, started to dare one another to climb it’s gnarled limbs. Soon, it became a pirate ship and a fort, a spaceship…
even a dragon! But when winter came, and the children stayed indoors, the tree got kind of lonely.
Then, one day he saw, through a window, one of the family’s joyfully putting up a Christmas tree and even though he told himself that’s not what IT wanted…it couldn’t quite convince itself.
The next year, the same things happened. In the Spring, the children came out. In the winter, they went inside, and the tree found itself wanting the happy children and the decorations more and more. It even tried hard to grow needles, but they never looked quite right after trying so hard, for so long, to keep them from growing.
When Fall came, the grown-ups started calling the tree “horrible” and saying it was time to cut it down. The tree was sad and terrified. It didn’t want to lose those happy children in its branches and dancing around its trunk. And neither did the kids! So, they formed a plan. They were now the determined ones. They gathered jack-o-lanterns, lights and rubber spiders, cardboard cats and skeletons.
They dressed that tree up right and proper, and that little spider, now all grown-up, helped too! The children danced around the tree, delighted, and happy as their parents now had a new perspective on this glorious Halloween Tree. And they were all happy together.
I wasn’t so sure about this book at first. That could be reading and writing fatigue on my part (you have no idea how many Halloween books I have read, even though I LOVE Halloween) but one of the library managers convinced me to try it, and I’m glad they did.
This was sweet, and wonderful and really showed how sometimes what we want can change, and that with a little help, and a little change in perspective, our dreams can come true, and we can be loved exactly as we are…spooky, gnarled, grumpy and all, and can be appreciated for it! It really warmed my heart. Plus, there is a fantastic activity kit available for this one. It’s below.
Enjoy!
Recommended Ages: 3-7
Activity Sheets:
Original Source: https://www.sourcebooks.com/halloween-tree.html#9781492673354
