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by Ryan Huntley (Author), Gretchen Hirsch (With), Elizabeth Myers-Bandy (Illustrator)
An old maple and a young pine tree that live on the edge of a meadow are close friends, even though they are very different from one another. Over the years, the pine tree learns valuable lessons from her older friend, and they enjoy watching the children who come to play in the meadow. When the maple tree is blown over and uprooted in a storm, she is taken away by the farmer who owns the meadow. The pine tree is left alone and lonely. However, one day she notices that young maples, the children of her friend who have come from the maple tree's seeds, have begun to grow up around her feet. As their "forever friend," she takes care of the young trees and shares the lessons their mother taught her, which relieves her loneliness. The story teaches children about caring for others, enjoying our differences, and understanding that love goes on even in the face of loss.
Scientists have told us for years that trees are social beings that communicate continually and care for one another. For children who may be too young to grasp the nuances of the scientific rhetoric surrounding the life of trees, In the Meadow, a delightful fiction read, introduces them to the concept of caring among trees.
This story was originally told by a four-year-old to his grandmother. Therefore, not every aspect of the book may be accurate from the scientific point of view, but the themes are timeless. The concepts of love, kindness, resilience, service, and appreciation for differences are modeled for young children without moralizing or overt lessons. This is a good snuggle-up-and-read book for parents to share with children who are not yet readers and a nice volume for a young reader's library.
