THE TREE THAT WOULD NOT DIE

Scholastic Press, 1995. 1st Edition 1st Printing. Hardcover. As New/New. Ted Rand color illustrations. CONDITION: UNREAD, but What makes this "As New?" - blank bookplate loose end page covering - well, who knows what. The book is perfect except for this bookplate. 1995 Scholastic hardcover (decorated boards) and dust jacket, first edition, first printing. Wonderful color illustrations and wrap-around cover art by Ted Rand. CONTENT: Told in the first person from the viewpoint of the Treaty Oak, a 500-year-old oak tree that was poisoned in 1989, this picture book chronicles American history from the seemingly narrow perspective of what the tree might have seen. And it saw plenty: the good, the bad, and the ugly. Levine handles the difficulties of persona and time frame with grace, using sensory details to give immediacy to the quickly shifting scenes. Beginning with the acorn sprouting into a seedling, the tree tells of the birds and buffalo it shaded and the first people, who met beneath its branches. Later the Spaniards came, then Stephen Austin, who is said to have made peace with the Indians at the "Treaty Oak," as it is now known. The tree saw pioneers clear and plant the fields, watched Texans locate their new capital on the land, and hid an escaped slave in its branches. Cowboys herded their cattle nearby. Railroads, paved roads, and telephone poles crossed the land. People who lost their jobs during the Depression slept under the tree. Threatened by modern developers, the land around the tree was made into a park. Children will feel wrenched by the tree's poisoning but heartened by the outpouring of love, prayers, poems, and money to help save the Treaty Oak. Beautifully designed and painted, the artwork records the growth of the tree and the drama of unfolding history in a series of engaging spreads. Particularly effective are the scene-within-a-scene pictures of the young tree and the use of black pages for the poisoning. Without personifying the tree or diminishing its dignity, both Levine and Rand tell its story in a way that makes readers care, perhaps even moving them to tears.