Becker, Aaron. Tree and the River, The. Aaron Becker, Illus. Candlewick, 03/2023. [32]pp. Picture Book. Trade $18.99. 978-1-5362-2329-3. GRADES 1–4. HIGH ADDITIONAL.
Time stops for no one and nothing as we experience Aaron Becker’s lens on the life cycle of one tree and the river that bear witness to this unassailable progression. In Becker’s wordless world, homes are built, animals thrive, and people display their mastery over the elements. Or do they? As the pages turn, the tree grows alongside the human-made technology as the house becomes a village, that becomes a town, that becomes a city, that overwhelms the land. Ultimately, the tree we first see is unrecognizable and struggling to survive as the world around it implodes. Hope is not lost as acorns are carried on the river to a new spot, where the cycle of life begins again. Becker creates his world using pencil, gouache, and digital paint, meticulously detailing each stage of progress and change until nature is once again left to her own devices. This book is a devastatingly beautiful story of the relationship between technological advancement and nature, its consequences, and the reconciliation when nature reclaims her space. A conversation starter for the very young, as well as a way to connect climate change to elementary-level units on current events.
Pauline Harris—San Francisco Public Library