ALA Booklist (Mon Mar 01 00:00:00 CST 1993)

This soft-toned picture book focuses an ecology message through the fate of one tree. Alice knows that the huge oak tree in the meadow has been there for hundreds and hundreds of years. She loves the afternoons she spends in its shade with her mother and her sheepdog, picnicking and listening to stories, especially the stories about how her parents bought the land and came to live there, and how she was christened under the tree and a bird did you-know-what on the Reverend's head. But the tree has been poisoned, probably by the illegal dumping of chemicals, and is dying. Despite all kinds of remedies from scientists, neighbors, and friends, and from people who leave get-well cards and even chicken soup, the leaves fall, the animals leave, the branches wither. Himler's watercolors express the quiet harmony of the green shady scene where you can dream and hear leaves whisper and see clouds change like smoke. One idyllic double-page spread shows the tree making a circle with the people it shelters. In contrast are the dying branches, propped up by poles and meshed with wire, shrunken and bare. Only in the final scene, when Alice plants the acorns she's collected from the tree, is there a promise of renewal. (Reviewed Mar. 1, 1993)

Horn Book (Thu Apr 01 00:00:00 CST 1993)

Alice and her parents try to save a beloved old oak tree that is dying because it has been poisoned by chemicals. Alice's sadness at the failure of their attempts is assuaged when she remembers the acorns she has been collecting and plants the nutlike seeds to begin a new tree. Expressive watercolors illustrate the realistic and hopeful story.

Kirkus Reviews

The team who collaborated on The Wall (1990) and Fly Away Home (1991, both ALA Notables) takes on another contemporary issue in a story about a beloved tree, an ancient oak, succumbing to pollutants. Alice describes the tree's importance to her family—not just a favorite picnic spot but the site of events like her christening. When Alice notices a ``funny'' smell, withering grass, and leaves falling (it's spring), a tree doctor is summoned; she reports that the tree has been poisoned, perhaps by illegal dumping. Neighbors pitch in for a rescue effort involving spraying, sunscreens, laborious soil replacement, and more whimsical gestures like get-well cards and chicken soup, but to no avail; even Mom weeps. Still, with youthful hope, Alice plants some acorns she gathered while the tree was still healthy. Deliberately poignant but more plausible and skillfully written than most of the recent spate of consciousness-raising books about trees; Himler's sensitive, evocative watercolors make a fine complement to the lyrical, perceptive text. (Picture book. 4-8)"

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

Nostalgia and timeliness merge seamlessly in this uncommonly evocative picture book,"""" said PW in a starred review. """"The story's emotional impact-and environmental message-are movingly reinforced by Himler's delicate paintings."""" Ages 5-8. (Mar.)

School Library Journal

K-Gr 3-- A sensitive book with an environmental theme. A family relaxes and engages in picnics, naps, storytelling, and plain fun under a gigantic old oak tree on their country property. One day, young Alice notices that the grass under the tree smells funny and is turning yellow. The oak's leaves start to fall, even though it is spring. A tree doctor discovers that the soil has been poisoned, probably by illegally dumped chemicals. Neighbors pitch in: the poisoned dirt is carted off, the fire department sprays water, sacking is wrapped around top branches, and the telephone company loans poles from which to hang sunscreens. The tree dies despite the efforts to save it. Finally, Alice remembers her collection of acorns, which she rushes out and plants in healthy ground near the tree. Himler's soft, realistic watercolors spread over double pages and complement the sensitive, poetic mood of the story. In increasing numbers, teachers are asking for picture books on ecological issues. This title joins Van Allsburg's Just a Dream (Houghton, 1990) and Ruth Brown's The World That Jack Built (Dutton, 1991) in serving that demand. --Jacqueline Elsner, Athens Regional Library, GA