The Tree That Was a World
Night is when the sloth likes to party. During the daytime, he hangs on his branch and acts like he’s doing nothing. But as soon as darkness falls, he starts doing somersaults and causing a commotion at the nearby lake, where the pikes are trying to sleep. The other inhabitants of the tree pretend they don’t know what’s going on. Meanwhile, they’re all getting on with their own lives and their own little dramas.
The sloth’s story is the first short tale in this book about the very different creatures living in one and the same tree. There’s a caterpillar who refuses to grow up and become a moth. A swallow who’s lost something but doesn’t know what. Among the roots of the tree, a bear wakes up – and he’s not in the mood for spring. A grumpy woodlouse demands that there should be a story about him, too. The highlight is perhaps the cannibalistic aphid who eats her brothers and sisters in her sleep. Or was it just a dream?
The poetic read-aloud stories have a friendly, humorous undertone and are subtly interconnected. The two pikes, for example, who are bothered by the sloth at night, haven’t spoken to each other in a long time. When you compare one pike’s story to the other’s, this turns out to be a tragic misunderstanding.
Such connections and the double meanings in some of the stories make them perfectly suited for reading aloud and then talking about. The atmospheric illustrations by Jeska Verstegen, who puts her own subtle spin on the stories, also draw the reader in. This collection is a new and original contribution to the genre of the animal tale, so popular with children and with the people who read stories to them.
Age: 6+
Original tales told with wit and imagination
Perfectly matched illustrations that are full of life
“Another new step for Goldewijk.”
“A wonderful book that you should read at least twice”
“A collection of philosophical animal stories packed with humour and casual wisdom”
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