Nice Work

by Nicholas Day, Hala Tahboub (Illustrator)

A wise and tender story about the patience needed for a tree–and a friendship–to grow, from award-winning author Nicholas Day.

All he wanted was a peach  Because when you eat a ripe peach, you get sticky and sweet, and if you don’t wash up, you stay sticky and sweet. And you feel like summer.

But when the tree arrives in the spring, it isn’t a tree. It’s a stick. Nice work, the boy tells his parents. You bought a stick. Even his friend Maya agrees. It’s a stick.  

Though what happens when you plant a stick, and it grows leaves? What happens when your best friend moves away? What happens when everything that was once clear starts to change? 
Here is a story of growth, the enduring power of friendship, the persistence of rabbits—and a single, glorious, impossible peach.

Genres: Picture Books, Friendship, Humor, Childrens

33 pages, Library Binding

Published May 12, 2026

About the author

Nicholas Day is the author of The Mona Lisa Vanishes, illustrated by Brett Helquist, winner of the Robert F. Sibert Award and the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award for nonfiction; A World Without Summer, illustrated by Yas Imamura; and Nothing: John Cage and 4’33”, illustrated by Chris Raschka. For adults, he’s the author of Baby Meets World, a work about the science and history of infancy, which Mary Roach called “a perfect book.” He lives in Northampton, Massachusetts, with his family.

Reviews

[Cindy]

Many families plant trees in the spring and young readers with families that plant trees in the spring will relate to this fun picture book.

The young boy thinks that his parents planted a stick when they bring the tree to be planted home. They tell him that it is a peach tree but he is skeptical because it only looks like a stick. The tree eventually sprouts its leaves and the little boy discovers that his friend Maya will be moving. He thinks that families should be more like trees and not move. The seasons pass and the tree continues to produce peaches year after year. The life lesson of learning that friendship endures and some things in life are constant is here in this picture book.

Nice Work is recommended for ages 4-8. It was published by Random House Studio, a division of Penguin/Random House. It has an ISBN of 978-0-593-80629-6.

[Melanie Hetrick]

A boy and his family plant a peach tree; well, it's a stick, really. But someday, with patience, it will become a peach tree. The boy's friend Maya suggests they plant more sticks and see what happens. Then Maya announces that her family is moving. The boy is crushed. A woman named Ruth moves into Maya's old house and is sorry that she's not his friend. They swap tree stories, as Ruth had a cherry tree when she was young. She tells the boy that she and the tree grew together until eventually, Ruth stopped growing but the tree kept going. Soon the peach tree finally bears one single peach and the boy excitedly writes to Maya to tell her.

A good story about patience.

[Stephanie Tournas]

This bittersweet picture book starts off with the love of peaches. A little boy convinces his parents to plant a peach tree. But when the tree arrives, it’s just a stick. “Nice work,” he says to his parents. “You bought a stick.” The reader laughs, but there’s an undercurrent of melancholy to this little boy. He finds out that his bestie Maya is moving. He feels lonely, and he thinks the tree seems that way too. Then, a new neighbor moves into Maya’s house, and his tree produces one peach. The boy starts to understand that things grow and change.

“Nice work” is repeated several times in the story. The expression is what parents and teachers usually tell children. The deadpan humor in the expression when the boy says it is his way of coping with change. He narrates the story, musing that he is changing and growing roots like the tree. This thoughtful youngster’s observations will resonate with kids who are beginning the journey to self awareness, with the peach as an emblem of of change. Uncrowded digital artwork leaves lots of white space, so readers focus on the boy and his family, and a cat that appears on almost every page.

The boy is white; his friend Maya has brown skin.

[Marco]

I remember once I brought home this tree from the little starter trees they give out in schools to take home for planting and my father planted it and I kept thinking "Nothing's happening". And really he took care of it and through the years, after I left to go to college, I came back and there was suddenly this huge tree near the edge of the lawn and I said, "When did you get that tree?" And my father told me, "That's the tree you brought from school." And I remember looking at it and then thinking about how my father nurtured that tree with care, like he did with everything in life, and now that he's gone and all I have are memories, I still look at that tree and see that our history is still there, still growing, and someday someone will see that tree and they'll wonder how it got there and the tree has its own story to tell.

Thank you for reminding me of that when I read this magical book.

[Barbara]

The narrator in this picture book plants a peach tree, which is bare and looks more like a stick, in order to enjoy the peaches it will eventually bear. The tree takes its time growing, but it eventually produces one peach, which the boy shares with Ruth, his neighbor. Throughout the narrative, it's clear that the tree's growth is comparable to the boy's, even though many of his changes can't be seen. And while it's likely that he won't get to enjoy an abundance of peaches from the tree, eventually others will, feeling refreshed by the unique taste of that fruit. The gentle text and digital illustrations, created with pencil, soft colored pencils, and a brush pen, capture the essence of childhood with its hopes, dreams, disappointments, and realizations amid life's changes. It's "nice work," if you can get it, a phrase repeated by the boy.

[Zan Porter]

All he wanted was a peach tree: Because when you eat a ripe peach, you get sticky and sweet, and if you don't wash up, you stay sticky and sweet. And you feel like summer. But when the tree arrives in the spring, it isn't a tree. It's a stick. Nice work, the boy tells his parents. You bought a stick. Even his friend Maya agrees. It's a stick. Though what happens when you plant a stick, and it grows leaves? What happens when your best friend moves away? What happens when everything that was once clear starts to change? Here is a story of growth, the enduring power of friendship, the persistence of rabbits--and a single, glorious, impossible peach." --

[Roben]

Learning that there is no such thing as a marshmallow tree, a young boy opts to plant a peach tree instead. He is slightly disappointed when his parents bring home a stick. But they plant it and he waters it. His friend Maya agrees that it does indeed look like a stick. But the adults reassure them that there is a lot going on underground.
Then life and time do their thing. Maya's family moves away. Our young friend protects and nurtures his tree. And a new neighbor moves in named Ruth - much older than Maya but an excellent baker. And friend.
Miracle of miracles, one day a flower appears on the tree - the promise of things to come.

[Terresa Wellborn]

This book. The most treelike book that is unlike Shel Silverstein's The Giving TreeThe Giving Tree, and yet the most like it. Unbelievably touching. Beautiful. Now go plant a peach tree!

Themes: friendship, moving, peaches, trees
Ages: 2-4th grade/all ages
Pub year: 2026

[Read Ribbet]

Nice Work is a beautifully written story that weaves a wonderful story about a peach tree and friendships. Both can change but with nice work, both can endure. The text and illustrations present the message subtly. Hala Tahbaub provides the softly drawn illustrations.

[Amy]

This is a fantastic story that incorporates elements of science with the enduring power of friendship. This book has lots of fun elements, all told in a highly engaging story that will make kids laugh and learn all at once. Charming book!

[Kirsten Murphy]

A sweet story about growing up and changes that happen in life, like your best friend moving away.

Connections:
* friendship
* neighbors
* persistence
* trees
* illustrations that tell more
* similes/metaphors

[Debra]

Cute story of growing and changing of a planted peach tree and a friendship of a new neighbor. Though the child misses the old neighbor, sharing is nice. It is fun to see the product of the hard work of caring for a peach tree.

[Diana]

A book about patience. My kids (11 and 8) loved it and I might have a stick garden soon.

[Alonsonia]

First half is laugh out loud funny, then it gets sad and the ending was just meh.

[terra 🩰🎵]

3 1/2 stars. Nice work.

[Ann]

I loved this book as an adult. Humorous and touching at the same time. Probably appreciated more by older kids( school age) and adult.

[TJE]

very sweet story about patience as well as a friend moving away and growing up

[Miss Becky]

Story of growing a peach tree.