There Was a Tree

by Rachel Isadora

A favorite children's song becomes a colorful book filled with African wildlife

Also known as "The Green Grass Grew All Around," this popular song has been recorded by artists from Barney to Captain Kangaroo. Now "the prettiest tree that you ever did see" is a lovely acacia tree, where a baby starling is just about to hatch. Rachel Isadora gives children a fun, easy way to follow along with the cumulative lyrics by using rebus icons for the repeated words, as she did with 12 Days of Christmas . Sheet music is also included, making this irresistible fun!

Genres: Picture Books, Africa, Storytime, Childrens, Music, Animals, Nature

32 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 1992

About the author

Rachel Isadora is an award-winning children's author and illustrator. She has written children's books on multiple topics including ballet, life in America and Africa, and has illustrated several Brother Grimm tales in an African setting. She is most well-known for her Caldecott Honor Award book "Ben's Trumpet". She was a ballet dancer before she became an illustrator and children's writer.

Reviews

[Araceli Aispuro · Rating 3 out of 5]

There was a tree is a story about a tree in the process of growing and how it becomes a beautiful part of our nature. Everything living around the tree such as birds and bugs. Green grass grew all around the tree.

This story has collage like illustrations and use of paint. The colors range from dark to light and warm to cool. As I read this book I couldn't help but smile. This book is appropriate for grades k-2nd grade. Because this particular book is also based on a song, the class activity would involve reading the book to the entire class and then playing the song for the students to sing.

[Dana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely illustrations accompany classic song.

[Day · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the illustrations that went with a song I remember from my childhood!

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

There Was a Tree is a gorgeous and multilayered adaptation of the well-known cumulative children’s song, “The Green Grass Grew All Around,” as imagined in an African setting. Caldecott Honor winner, Rachel Isadora’s incredible illustrations for this piece, done in oil paints and printed paper, are saturated with the rich colors of Africa, and so full of visual interest and texture that they almost feel tactile in nature. One feels like they could reach out and touch those textures and feel the warmth of the sun and the heat of the African day. Each brilliantly decorated page is framed by brightly colored borders that resemble Kente cloth and add to the African imagery. The typeface is well-spaced and easy to read, and the lyrical text stays true to the original words of the song introducing each new element bolded in brightly colored text in all caps. As the elements of the song begin to accumulate, small rebus images of the items appear as picture clues embedded therein. The real story, however, is told through the African imagery accompanying the text, which not only illustrates the words of the song, but also carries along a deeper, even more beautiful story of its own. Beginning with the book’s front end papers that depict the morning sun rising and ending with a delightful nighttime scene complete with moon and stars on the back end papers Isadora’s captivating images tell the story of the beautiful Umbrella Acacia tree—a native African tree—as it grows. On the first page an African mother with a young toddler in hand and an infant on her back observe a hole in the ground, then on each page we slowly see the beautiful tree begin to grow and thrive as it provides shelter and a nourishment for many different African animals including a mother bird and her tiny baby. The images and the song combine to become a sort of allegory for the passage of time—as the African sun rises in the sky we observe the tree growing and the animals all enjoying the tree, then as the sun begins to set we notice two young children, might they be the same ones from the beginning of the story who have grown like the tree has grown? They stand in the shade of the Umbrella Acacia tree watching the mother and baby bird take flight as the sun sets in a brilliant display of color. This lovely book includes a clearly labeled rebus key at the end as well as the sheet music and lyrics to the original song. When sharing this book, I would direct attention to the beautiful African imagery, I might ask the children to imagine the warm sun on their faces and the sounds of exotic animals in the air. This book absolutely must be sung aloud, and the children could help do this. A fun extension activity for this book would be to laminate the “rebus” style pictures like the ones used as picture clues in the story and use them to retell/sing the story together. Children might help sing the book using the smaller picture clue images embedded in the text. Afterwards, we could play a simple sequencing game using the images from the song, or children could use torn construction paper pieces in a variety of colors to create their own beautiful trees.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

Isadora sets the traditional song "The Green Grass Grows All Around" in Africa, with bold colors and mixed media that includes oils, printed paper, and collage-type illustrations. In addition to an acacia tree and a colorful blue and orange superb starling, zebras, giraffes, and other African animals roam the pages beneath a giant orange sun, or show up in silhouette along with the warm African colors and textures of the borders. Isadora also employs a rebus to help new readers with the text of this familiar cumulative song. This would be a terrific addition to storytimes and classroom units on biomes.

[babyhippoface · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rachel Isadora has taken the old song "The Green Grass Grew All Around" and placed it in the middle of Africa, centered on an umbrella acacia tree. Her oil paint ,printed paper, and palette paper illustrations are just as beautiful as everything Isadora produces. The African setting is clear not just because of the animals depicted but because of the boldly-patterned painted borders on each spread. This book also features the addition of rebuses to the repeated refrain so non-readers can sing along. Sheet music is included in the back of the book, as well.

Elementary music teachers will want to take a look at this one and possibly incorporate it into their collections.

[Mama Bibliosoph · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rachel Isadora places the traditional song, "The Green Grass Grew All Around," in Africa. At sunrise, a young mother and her two small children see a hole in the ground. As we turn the pages, an Umbrella Acacia tree grows in the hole. As the sun continues to rise, as though it were the same day, we watch the tree grow and develop branches. A nest appears, then an egg, and soon a baby starling. In the end, the young bird is ready to leave the nest as the sun sets and the two kids (now older) look on.

Cumulative songs have a tight, predictable structure that is great for our kids. I really like how Isadora combines this with the use of rebus (picture) icons within the text. This gives kids who are more visual than aural another way to follow along and participate.

(It's really sad that this book is out of print, but I was easily able to borrow it from my local library. It's also available as an ebook.)


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I review books for children from the perspective of a parent of kids with autism. The review above is part of a longer post on books about singalong books: https://www.lineupthebooks.com/40-sin...

[Evianrei · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book reminded me a lot of There Was a Coyote Who Swallowed a Flea. It reads in a similar way, lots of repetition, but it is easy going and flows well. My 1 year old son enjoyed the imagery, but I think we both like There Was a Coyote Who Swallowed a Flea a bit more. There was also the music sheet for the song in the back, but as I don't know how to read music myself, that portion wasn't helpful much to me. Might check this out again sometime and share it with my husband who can read music, and re-review it then.

[Destiney Criss · Rating 3 out of 5]

This ebook There Was A Tree by Rachel Isadora is contemporary realistic fiction that is intended for ages 5 and under. this ebook is essentially about a favorite children's song that gets turned into a book. I rated this book a 3 out of 5 stars simply because I really don't see a useful meaning behind this story other than that it encourages children to follow along to lyrics. I will say that the authors illustrations were great, the use of color stood out to me. The author also shows young children how important it is to understand the world that we live in and that it is important to take care of our eco system. If I had to I would read this story to my students if we had a discussion on the earth or maybe in a music class because this ebook is based on a popular children's song.

[Daisy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ages: preschool - 2nd grade

summary: The story of how an ecosystem and environment is kept through a tree. How the seed grows and how it helps maintain animals. How those animals grow. The story/song that helps young student learn about some parts of the life cycle.

Review: The song version converted into a rebus book. The author supports the song with wonderfully vibrant illustrations and manages to maintain the beat of the song by only including the words. Students can even read the book on their own because of the rebus element replacing words with pictures/imagines.

Uses: introduction to ecosystems, trees theme

[Lidia Alarcon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awards: N/A

Appropriate grade level(s): pre-k - K

Summary: This book is about an acacia tree in Africa. It tells about the trees impact on nature. It is the song known as “The Green Grass Grew All Around” with lovely illustrations.

Review: The illustrations in this book are great! Lots of fun to sing. Would definitely recommend.

In-class uses: (1) lesson on african animals. (2) lesson on ecology.

[Luisa Knight · Rating 2 out of 5]

Written from the song "The Prettiest Tree That You Ever Did See" comes this book with colorful scenery of the African plains.

Ages: 3 - 6

#geography #africa

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[Kira Riccio · Rating 4 out of 5]

1. (None)
2. Kindergarten-Grade 1
3. “There Was a Tree” is a song book about African wildlife.
4. This song book is very repetitive and has a catchy tune. Children love to sing this with you. It is filled with beautiful illustrations. I also like how the author replaced some words with pictures.
5. This is a good book for repitition and having fun singing.

[Carley VanEtten]

1. This book hasn't won any rewards.
2. This book would be great for pre-k through 1st grade.
3. The book goes through the life of a tree and the things it holds. It shows the beauty of a tree and its it's importance to nature.
4. This book is great for elementary. It can be read and also sang.
5. This book could be to teach repetition and can be included in a lesson about nature.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

The classic folk song, The Green Grass Grew All Around, is given a rebus key and set in an African savanna. An acacia tree is the center of the story. A great read-aloud for themes on trees or Africa. Kids will love to sing along with this one!

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gorgeous version of The Green Grass Grew All Around with Isadora's distinctive style and set in an African grassland. The use of the rebus pictures to help with the repetition is great, and will translate into a fantastic flannelboard to help tell the story.

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Marvelous art by Rachel Isadora (natch) in the edition that I read. I would not like to try to read it aloud to children though, too long. And the author's note is on the jacket flap, so if you lose that, you don't know what the bird is or anything else she says.

[Lynn Davidson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story is set in Africa and can also be sung to the tune of "the Green Grass Grew All Around". Lovely illustrations.

[Emily A · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good repeating song for young children.

[Ruth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't know this was a song, but the rhythm of the writing had me making up a song in my head. I was happy to see the musical score on the last page!

[The Hecker Family · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful illustrations, love this song, and the book was written in a clever way, putting some of the illustrations in as the words. Loved it!

[Azy Ivester · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really loved this book and the fact that it can also be a song! Fun for all children this book/song has beautiful illustrations that highlight the lessons within!

[Amelia McCammon · Rating 3 out of 5]

There’s a song to this book. Once I showed it our daughter I had to sing it every single time. She liked it. It’s fun to do it with them together.

[Nanny B · Rating 4 out of 5]

Based on the song
Great Illustrations depicting Africa

[Lori · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lovely illustration for an old old favorite.

[Linda Gill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Do you remember the song "And the Green Grass Grew All Around" or "There was a Tree"? It was originally published in 1912 by William Jerome with the melody written by Harry Von Tilzer. The song has been sung by many, to name just two: Barney and Captain Kangaroo.

This colorful Rachel Isadora book is based upon that song, but the setting is Africa. Ms. Isadora lived in Africa for a period of her life and saw the Umbrella Acacia tree (or Umbrella Thorn tree) everywhere she went. She noticed that the tree was a home and source of food for many animals and birds. The enormous array of beasts and birds, the brilliant colors of Africa, along with the familiar song, "The Green Grass Grew All Around," inspired this children's book.

As illustrator, Ms. Isadora adorns each double page layout with a border of colorful African fabric filled with scenes from Africa in vibrant colors as well as the words to this delightful cumulative song. She also uses rebus icons to illustrate repeated words, making it fun and easy for children to follow along and to read the story.

At the end of the book, there is a "Rebus Key" showing the picture and the written word for that teaching moment. Plus, she has included the music and words for playing along while singing.

Reading Level: 3-5 years old

Rachel Isadora received a Caldecott Honor for Ben's Trumpet. She is the author and/or illustrator of over 150 books, many of which are set in Africa or centering around dance. She lived in Africa for ten years, and grew up dancing from the age of six. She studied ballet at the George Balanchine's School of American Ballet and has danced professionally. Just a few of her children's books are Say Hello!, Peekaboo Bedtime, and the Lili at Ballet series, along with several classic tales set in Africa, including The Ugly Duckling, Hansel and Gretel, and The Princess and the Pea. She lives in New York City. You can find more about Rachel Isadora @ http://www.rachelisadora.com/Asset.as...

Book Information:
ISBN-13: 9780399257414
Publisher: Nancy Paulsen Books, a Division of Penguin Young Readers Group (USA) Incorporated
Publication date: 10/11/2012
Pages: 32
Product dimensions: 10.20 (w) x 10.20 (h) x 1.20 (d)

[Dolly · Rating 3 out of 5]

While looking up The Rainforest Grew All Around in my local library's online database, I discovered this book as well. Both books are based on the classic children's song The Green Grass Grew All Around, which is one that we weren't familiar with.

Still, it's a catchy little ditty and the cumulative and repetitive nature of the story is great for younger children. The addition of pictures in place of the words will likely appeal to young readers, too, but it just put our girls off, since they felt it was too babyish.

The African-themed illustrations in this book are terrific, created with oil paints, printed paper and palette paper, and the textures and vibrant colors are fantastic. I just loved the bird and her chick, and although she doesn't name the bird, she explains in the author's bio on the book cover that its wings change color as it matures.

I appreciated the inclusion of the sheet music for the song and the lyrics. This is where I first learned that it was a 'repeat after me' type of song. Overall, it was a fun book to read aloud, even if our girls thought it was too young for them.

[Becky B · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rachel Isadora takes the song "There Was a Tree" (which is probably more familiar in it's refrain "the green grass grew all around all around") and illustrates it as if it was taking place on an African plain. As each verse progresses, the main noun added last time is replaced by a rebus (picture of the item) allowing young ones to "read" that part along with you. The music for the song is provided in the back.

I really like the setting Isadora picked for this song. It's something I never would have thought of, and allows her to use exotic animals around the main action. Personally, I can't stand excessively repetitive songs (why I could never be a kindergarten teacher) and thus why I only gave this three stars. Nothing against the book as a whole, just a personal taste thing. I can see it as being really good for young readers, though, since it is full of repetition and has the pictures to let them read along.

[Monae · Rating 4 out of 5]

Awards:
Grade: K-2
Summary: A story about an acacia tree and the animals that live around the tree. The story repeats the process of how the tree grows
Review: I am really big on great illustrations for children's books and this book has excellent pictures. Also, because the storyline repeats itself it will help with word and song recognition.
In Class Use: (1) Read aloud- I would do something similar to what the teacher did in the article "Let's Bring Back the Magic of Song for Teaching Reading". I would have the story written out on chart paper so the students can follow along while they listen to the song.
(2) Story Comparison- Because this book is based off the classic children's song "The Green Grass Grew All Around" I would have the students compare the differences and similarities between this story line and the classic song. Also, there are other books based off the classic song too that I could incorporate into this class activity.

[Christine Turner]

And the green grass grew all around, all around, the green grass grew all around!This beautiful picture book is based on the words to a popular song that has been entertaining children for decades. Now the lyrics 'the prettiest tree that you ever did see' come to life in a gorgeous African setting-as a baby bird us getting ready to hatch on the branches of an umbrella acacia tree.Caldecott Honor winner Rachel Isadora uses colourful rebus icons to illustrate the repeated words in the cumulative text, giving children an enjoyable and easy way to follow along. Sheet music is included as well, making it fun for families to not only read together -- but to also sing along!

Subjects

Rebus.

Children's songs, English -- United States -- Texts

Songs

Nature -- Songs and music