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Subjects -> Children's Books -> Ages 4-8 -> Picture Books
Subjects -> Children's Books -> Authors & Illustrators, A-Z -> ( M ) -> McPhail, David
Subjects -> Children's Books -> Literature -> General
Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1
Average rating: 5.0 of 5
A Tree Grows in England 5 out of 5 stars.
9 of 9 people found this review helpful.
The friendship between Henry the bear and Stanley the raccoon is in the tradition of the great English ruralist story tellers (e.g., Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows; A. A. Milne--the Winnie the Pooh stories), much like the recently reviewed "Walk Rabbit Walk." The cold, blustery December days and the vocabulary ("fortnight") transport us to England, a land rich in Christmas-related literature (Dickens, of course, and--in Wales--Dylan Thomas' "A Child's Christmas in Wales"). Somehow Christmas seems more steeped in tradition in such a setting, and David McPhail captures it almost perfectly in his long flowing sentences:
"Perhaps, though, the thing Henry loved most about Christmas was the tree. A fine and full Christmas tree, beautifully decorated, with presents underneath and good friends all around. This was Christmas all right--and Henry smiled as he thought about it."
Although some of the people have familiar McPhail faces, the animals and their surrounding depict a lovely little English town. On a two-page spread, we see Henry and Stanley entering the village to find a Christmas tree. McPhail shows us the thatch-roofed houses, the smoke steaming up from the chimneys, and the whole picture thick with shading and texture. The enormous trees are so laden with snow that they look like moose antlers, bending over the narrow country bridge and the ice-islanded stream.
The plot revolves around Henry's search for a tree. When they get there too late to buy one of the "better" ones, he and Stanley try to buy one at the local school. IN what may be an homage to Charles Schultz's Christmas TV show (the one with Vince Guaraldi tearing it up on the piano), Stanley finds a scraggly, neglected tree similar to the one that Charlie Brown chooses, but Henry rejects it.
Unlike Charlie Brown, Henry has confidence to spare, and when he spends all of their Christmas dinner money to enter the church raffle for a big, beautiful tree, he's already making plans on where he will place it when he wins. He wins it, but it so busy eating at the doughnut shop that he doesn't get there within the two-minute time limit. There is a happy conclusion for all involved. McPhail, the illustrator of more than 50 books for kids, has written a suspenseful, somewhat humorous Christmas story, and his pictures drawn with crow-quill pen, ink, and watercolor evoke the moods and colors of a small town Christmas.
Highly recommended!
Editorial Review:
Henry Bear loves everything about Christmas, but most of all he loves having a fine tree, beautifully decorated, with presents underneath and good friends all around. However, when Henry Bear and his best friend, Stanley, head off to town to find the perfect tree, nothing at the farm stand or at the school yard meets Henry's approval. No, the only tree perfect enough for Henry is the one being raffled off by the church. Henry is positive that the tree is meant to be his -- so positive that he spends all of his money buying raffle tickets, but Stanley is worried. What will they do if they don't win the raffle?
More than twenty-five years after first introducing Henry Bear to children everywhere with Henry Bear's Park, acclaimed illustrator David McPhail returns once again to Henry Bear's world with an endearing new story about the true meaning of Christmas.
