PreS-Gr 2 —"This table began as a seed and grew into a great strong tree." With those words, this book ushers readers into the beginning of a mighty saga. It's not just a linear life cycle of how this table comes into being, although it does that process incredibly well, giving it thought and heft in each step of creation. No, this book is an explosion of possibilities. It tracks not the life, but the many lives a table can inhibit through the years. One multigenerational and multiethnic family shows their rich existence, working and playing hard at this centerpiece of their home. The illustrations, strong and simple, depict the deep joy around an inclusive family table. Every page bursts with color and delicately lined details. Here, children's drawings surround a window with a bird's nest outside. There, dropped papers and toy towns grace the corner. It culminates in an ending scene where framed photos of moments from the previous pages remind the inhabitants—and readers—of the beautiful moments created not just by the table, but by those we love. VERDICT A diverse treatise on connection, clear enough for a preschooler but poignant enough for older children and even adults.—Cat McCarrey

A table is at the center of a home.This cozy book about a hand-hewn wooden table starts and ends evocatively: "This table began as a seed." The seed grows into a "great strong tree" that's felled by a lumberjack…or perhaps by lightning…or, possibly, a windstorm. Later, a skilled, brown-skinned carpenter cuts and measures the timber, sands it, attaches legs, stains and seals it, and leaves it to dry in the sun. Now it's a "strong and stable" table, ready for use. And what stories the table could tell as it stands "in the middle of a room, in the middle of a house, and [as] life grew up around it." It serves as a dining space, as well as a place to play and draw, to do puzzles and schoolwork, and, mostly, "for gathering, sharing stories, and being together." Readers learn that this table, the "heart" of a home, centers people and families-a nice thought. This simply told Canadian import is quite lovely; children may wish to volunteer thoughts about how tables in their own homes compare with the one in the book. The inviting, homey watercolor illustrations, especially those of the table, have an appropriately grainy appearance, and the racially diverse characters also have an air of sturdiness, giving them not only a slightly "woodsy" appearance but also suggesting strength of character and purpose.A warm charmer that will help readers reflect on life's most important things. (Picture book. 4-7)