When A Tree Grows
Cathy Ballou Mealey and Kasia Nowowiejska
Sterling Children’s Books

Cause and effect meet choose your own adventure in this amusing book set in a forest.

‘When a tree grows … two things could happen. It becomes a scratching post for Moose’s itchy antlers and the tree sways gently side to side.’ Or … he pushes too hard and crash!-boom! Down comes the tree onto a cave waking up a bear. Bear too can do one of two things … and so it goes on with the possibility of an ordinary or an extraordinary happening.

The possibilities get more and more outlandish, even the ordinary ones, until the adventure brings all three characters (and a host more) together for a Welcome Home party for their small bushy-tailed friend …

after which there is a satisfying completion of the circular tale that readers may, or may not, have seen coming.

There’s plenty to amuse as each scenario is presented in this cleverly constructed story wherein text and digital illustrations work well in tandem providing a fun storytime read aloud with a good sprinkling of omomatopoeia that gives young listeners an opportunity to let rip.

The book also offers a model for older audiences to use as a starting point for writing their own similarly constructed adventures.