Aside from animal books, the most popular type of picture book requests that come my way are nature-based. A lot of authors love to introduce children to peaceful and serene country settings, living things that range from tiny to huge, and landscapes depicted throughout various seasons.
Trees in particular are a main theme of these nature picture books. So, it’s difficult to pick and choose which picture books I should review and promote.
Author Susan Polk Van Dusen reached out to me with one such tree-themed picture book. Blending simple rhyme schemes with paintings by her late father made this such an intriguing take on the familiar topic that I knew I had to give it a chance. Below is my review of the book, What’s So Special About a Tree? along with an interview with Van Dusen about her work.
What’s So Special About a Tree? plot summary
What’s So Special About a Tree? is a story that answers its title by talking about the benefits of trees, remarks on their diversity, and basically describes the different places where they can be found. They are exclusively talked about in a country setting and where they can be found within that setting. Each one has a presence, and they are also impressive, whether they stand in groups along the bank of a creek or alone extending over the roof of your cottage home.
The story
There is no actual story to the book. Each page features one or two sentences with a basic rhyme scheme about the trees that you see in the book.
Its simplicity makes the story perfect for early readers or for kids who like short, straight to the point books. The vocabulary is very basic with a lot of easy words and others that should be simple to spell out, making it perfect to read to preschoolers or for new readers to read to others.
The formatting and style
What’s So Special About a Tree? is 32 pages long but is a very quick read as most of the story is taken up by its illustrations. The text is very easy to read and is both embedded into the illustrations and sits on its own page surrounded by white space with large print. Certain words are accentuated with more dramatic text and colors that help to emphasize the point of each sentence. It helps to add weight to the illustrations that correspond to the words.
The illustrations
Like I said, the story features several illustrations by the author’s late father, John S. Polk. The illustrations are the real star of the story as even the cover image draws you into this world of trees, curious to see what other tree depictions lay inside.
The illustrations range from pencil drawings to watercolor paintings. They’re detailed enough to each have their own character and personalities while also being simple and colorful enough to fit right at home in a children’s book.
You can see different styles and techniques used in each illustration as the artist experiments with his chosen subject. Some illustrations are close ups of branches while others are wide shots featuring country buildings and other signs of life and terrains. They have that Bob Ross feel of being a place you want to jump right into and walk around in while also having a whimsical quality that is transportive in the imagination that it inspires in the reader.
My recommendation
I recommend What’s So Special About a Tree? to Van Dusen’s target audience, children ages 4 through 8. It works as a great practice book for early readers, a quick story for preschool aged readers, and even a gentle bedtime story.
Most of us don’t live among these grand landscapes. So, it does serve as a kind of grounded escapism to flip through these tranquil country settings. At the same time, we can find trees in almost every environment, and that makes them such a prevalent part of our surroundings and a comfortable, recognizable, and essential part of our environment.
My rating
An interview with Susan Polk Van Dusen
How long did the story take to write? Was it a challenge to come up with the rhymes?
It took me a week or two to write the rhyming verse and compile the list of artwork included in the book. This was definitely a case where the art inspired the text, instead of the other way around, which is normally the case. All of the art in the book was created by my dad prior to his death in 2020. I chose which pieces I wanted to include and used their individual attributes as inspiration for the verse. To be honest, it came together pretty easily.
I don’t recall any specific challenges with the rhymes. However, I was careful to use exact rhymes, rather than slant (or imperfect) rhymes, because I feel like children will relate more easily to the sing-song rhythm of exact rhymes. Rhymezone.com is a great resource for inspiration when writing in rhyme, and I use it quite often.
How did you come up with the title for the story?
The title came to me immediately as a simple and straightforward way to describe the book’s purpose, which is to show readers the many ways that trees play a special role in our world. I didn’t consider any other titles.
When was the decision made to alter some of the font styles and colors in order to highlight some of the most important words on the page?
I have worked with many talented graphic artists over the years and learned from them the power of using fonts as a graphic element. I feel like this is a great tool in children’s books because it reinforces a word’s meaning through visualization.
If the word “tall” is actually taller than the words around it, it allows children to see, hear and process that word actively and creatively. The same holds true for making each letter of the word “colors” appear in a different color or the word “wide” appear in a bold, chunky font.
Plus, using different fonts and colors simply makes the text more vivid and visually interesting for the reader, which is always a good choice.
You write in your bio that the illustrations in the book were painted by your late father. What do you think made him so interested in trees as a subject of his work? Were there any other subjects that he painted often that could/can be used to create another picture book?
My dad was interested in all kinds of subjects. I think his choice to paint trees was inspired simply by his appreciation of nature and the beauty of the world around him.
I inherited almost 400 of his paintings and drawings, which include subjects ranging from architecture and pastoral scenes to cowboys, seashells, portraits and butterflies. There are definitely other groups of his paintings that I would like to incorporate into another picture book. I believe that, in combining my love of writing with his artistic talent is a special and lasting way, I can honor his memory.
Do you have a favorite type of tree? Do you have any fun facts about trees that you can share?
My favorite tree is a tulip tree, which is also known as a saucer magnolia. They bloom in the early spring and are covered with beautiful pink blooms that resemble tulips. Someday I’ll have one in my own yard!
Everyone knows that trees convert carbon dioxide into oxygen, but trees also remove pollution from the atmosphere and improve air quality. That’s one reason that green spaces in cities are so important, in addition to their beauty and the positive influence they play on our mental health.
Were you inspired by any other picture books or authors?
I love picture books and enjoyed reading to my daughters every day when they were young. We especially liked books by Mo Willems, Sandra Boynton and Ian Falconer, among lots of others.
For this book, however, I can’t say that I was really inspired by anyone in particular. I think that’s because of the use of my dad’s artwork that makes this book unique and unlike the style of other children’s picture books.
Do you have a favorite page?
I’m very fond of the painting titled Lodgepole Tree, which accompanies the text that says, “Some trees are tall and reach toward the sky, guarding the woodlands for all who pass by.” That’s such an unusual and whimsical painting that I feel matches perfectly with the text.
What’s next for you?
I am excited to have another picture book coming out this fall! It tells a fun story of a boy who has so many pets that they take over his family’s house. Check out vandusenbooks.com and sign up to receive updates coming soon!
Author links
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