Tree: A Peek-Through Picture Book

by Britta Teckentrup (Illustrator)

Through a hole in the book’s cover, an owl invites you inside to meet a majestic tree and all its forest inhabitants during the changing seasons. With clever peekaboo holes throughout, each page reveals a new set of animals playing and living in the tree—baby bears frolicking in the spring, bees buzzing around apples in the summer, squirrels storing nuts in the fall, and finally the lone owl keeping warm during the winter chill—until another year begins. . . .
 
Children will love seeing a new set of animals appear and then disappear as each page is turned, and along the way they’ll learn about the seasons and how a forest and its inhabitants change throughout the year.


"Ideal for sharing up close, where little ones can get a good look at the pictures, this gentle, easy-to-memorize story of the seasons is a great fit for bedtime."—Booklist

Genres: Picture Books, Nature, Childrens, Animals, Storytime, Science, Poetry

32 pages, Hardcover

First published September 10, 2015

About the author

Britta Teckentrup was born in Germany and moved to England in 1988. She is the author and illustrator of many books for children. She now lives in Berlin with her husband and young son.

Reviews

[Calista · Rating 4 out of 5]

Playful. This book is a playful take on a tree going through the seasons of the year. With each page you see more and more animals through the holes of the pages and then they start disappearing until it is simply the owl. It all starts over. The cut-outs get more elaborate.

The kids like this book, especially my nephew. He likes to look through it on his own over and over peeking through the holes.

A quick read, a beautiful book.

[Lynda · Rating 5 out of 5]

This just might be my favorite children's book. If not "the favorite," definitely in the top ten. A beautifully textured cover that is a pleasure to hold, thick pages that turn easily, with colorful illustrations of the tree through the seasons centered by the "peek through picture" of the owl sitting in the trunk "watching in his tree." I believe I enjoyed this book more than my two year old although she did enjoy the snowflakes, animals and foliage carefully drawn on each page.

[Serafim Silva · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mais um excelente livro para os nossos filhos..

[Kristen · Rating 5 out of 5]

A cute and playful book about the seasons. Madison loved playing with the cut-outs in the pages. The story and illustrations were great!

[Cristina Di Matteo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Albero è un albo illustrato per bambini meraviglioso, poetico e magico sull‘alternarsi delle stagioni. Un racconto che conduce il piccolo lettore a scoprire, attraverso le vicende di piccoli animaletti che popolano i rami dell’albero, la bellezza della natura durante il corso dell’anno.https://ilmondodichri.com/albero/

[Laila · Rating 5 out of 5]

OH MY GOODNESS this book is gorgeous. Perfect for little ones learning about trees and seasons. Gonna try it in story time.

[Ophelia · Rating 5 out of 5]

i loved this recap of the seasons, especially since i’ve only experienced each one once. i kinda needed a reminder of what’s to come

[Baby Bookworm · Rating 5 out of 5]

This review was originally written for The Baby Bookworm. Visit us for new picture books reviews daily!

Happy Friday, friends! Our book today was Tree by Britta Teckentrup, a fantastic peek-through journey through a year’s worth of changing seasons, centering around a tree and its inhabitants. Told in rhyme, the story introduces a tall tree and the wise owl who lives there, and follows both as they watch the winter melt into spring, spring to summer, and so on. Different animals and plants appear and disappear though the seasons’ changes, but owl and the tree remain, watching the changing forest around them.

As you can tell from the picture, JJ adored this book! The peek-though pages especially fascinating to her: you can see the owl in his hole all the way from the cover, and different animals also appear and disappear in cutouts as the seasons progress. The art is lively and colorful, and the rhymes are fun and easy to read. The length is just about perfect for a one-year-old, too. This was an all-around fantastic book of seasons for little ones, and we highly recommend it! Baby Bookworm approved!

Be sure to check out The Baby Bookworm for more reviews!

[Tasha · Rating 5 out of 5]

The seasons pass as an owl looks out of a hole in a tree in this engaging picture book. Beginning in winter, owl is alone in the cold landscape. When spring comes, the snow melts and buds form on the tree. Baby bears play and climb the tree’s trunk. Leaves and blossoms form and squirrels, birds and fox cubs arrive. With summer, the apples start to form on the tree and the tree spends long warm nights swaying in the breeze. Autumn comes with colder temperatures and the animals start to leave. Apples fall to the ground and the tree’s leaves turn red and fold. Snow comes and winter arrives. Soon everyone is gone, even the owl. But he is peeking out again soon as spring comes once again.

Teckentrup uses simple rhymes to tell the story of one large tree and the ways that it supports the ecosystem around it. The seasons are clearly noted in the rhymes, the changes explained and each one is celebrated for how unique it is. The various animals too change what they are doing as the weather shifts. This is a dynamic book about weather and seasons.

It is the illustrations that make this book so noteworthy. Teckentrup’s cut out designs allow each page turn to show the owl for most of the book but also to add the other animals as they appear in the story. Then as the story reverses and the animals leave, the cut outs play out that way too.

A clever and striking look at one tree, one ecosystem and many seasons. Appropriate for ages 2-4.

[Liz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Deep in a forest sits a tree. Inside that tree lives an owl. Owl sits and watches patiently as the forest around him goes from icy and white to sunny and green and back again. New animals and plants come and go throughout the year. All the while, Owl sits watching in his tree.

Tree is designed with die cut pages that "peek through" to next page spread. As the book goes along and the seasons change, more die cut animal shapes are added, then taken away as the seasons change back to winter. These thoughtful details and the short, descriptive text make this a standout among the wealth of picture books available about the seasons. The book is illustrated by the author with detailed digital collages that have a screen print feel to them. Observant readers will notice lots of tiny details like insects and plants that change and grow along with the seasons. Tree would make a great choice for group sharing in a classroom or library setting, but will really shine when shared one-on-one with children. This is a must-purchase title for home and public library collections.

Share this book with: preschoolers and kindergartners learning about the seasons; it would make a great companion to Tap the Magic Tree by Christie Matheson.
My favorite part of the book: the little fox family that joins owl during the book
Age recommendation: appropriate for ages 3 and up

[Paula · Rating 4 out of 5]

This title about the seasons has a clever twist. As rhyming couplets describe an apple tree’s transformation through the seasons, clever cutouts show the animals hiding in its trunk and on its branches. Beginning with an owl peeking out from his hole in the trunk during winter, the text describes cubs coming out of hibernation as spring nears, squirrels and birds inhabiting the tree in spring, bees and apples flourishing in the summer, apples falling, leaves turning and animals gathering food stores in fall and back to winter and the solitary owl once again as another year has cycled. The story has a cumulative feel as animals and die-cuts are added and then taken away as the seasons progress. A thick textured cover hints at something out of the ordinary and the gritty block-print illustrations and clever die-cut openings deliver. The title is invaluable for lessons about the seasons and nature in general. It’s not necessarily a good choice for public or school libraries because of the format, but for family libraries it is a must and meant to be shared between child and adult.

[Megan Garrison · Rating 4 out of 5]

Copyright- 2015
Number of Pages-24
Book format-hardcover
Reading Level-N/A GR Level- N/A
Genre- Fiction
Lit. Requirement- Engineered-2

Tree is the changing of seasons told by an owl. In owl is in a tree and watches each season change all around him. This is a peek through picture book so you can see through the hole in the tree the owl is in and it changes a little on each page. The book starts out with winter then goes all the way through to the next winter. The endings of each sentence rhymes and clever wording is used. I like this book to explain seasons to a younger aged class. It gives a simple and easily understood background of seasons and what animals prepare to do for winter. The colors on each page also correlate with what we would associate with the seasons. For winter it is more pale blue and white, in the summer there is more yellow and orange. Also the tree changes during each season to accurately portray the seasons. All in all this was a good book and I would recommend it.

[Allie Spongberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

1. Tree is a fun interactive pop out book that educates children on the changing of seasons. With each season comes new animals, colors, smells, foods, and outdoor activities. This book goes though each season more than once so children can grasp a better understanding that not every reoccurring season is the same.
2. Activity:
-Students can perform simple research on seasons and find animals that appear during those seasons and why
-They draw on a piece of paper that season
-After performing research, they can post fun facts about the season or the animal of their choosing and write it on the original piece of paper.
3. Teckentrup, B., & Hegarty, P. (2015). Tree: a peek-through picture book. New York: Doubleday Books for Young Readers.

[Stephanie (Reading is Better With Cupcakes) · Rating 2 out of 5]

While the artwork is great and bright, the overall story is really lacking. It teaches the seasons pretty well, but there really isn't much going on other than the trees looking a bit different on each page. I really don't think it would hold the attention of its intended audience.

My review is based off of an eARC provided by the publisher via Edelweiss

[Read Ribbet · Rating 3 out of 5]

Format will make Tree a unique addition to the collection since cut outs on pages will capture young readers' attention but again a narrative story about changing seasons seems familiar. The rhymed verse narrative and colorful illustrations are well done but the focus and topic limit potential addition to a collection.

[Bethany · Rating 4 out of 5]

A sturdy, proud tree stands in a clearing as seasons and animals thrum about it. Beginning with the wise owl, peep holes in the pages give us glimpses of the wildlife than come and go with the weather. The design shows off the turning of the seasons, showing how much--and how little--changes as the year progresses.

[Molly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wasn't sure about the cut-out element at first - but as I read through the very nicely illustrated book, it turned out that there were more cut-outs as I went along, all of which revealed another layer of life in the tree. I can see where kids would really dig that aspect of it. Probably not great for a large storytime since the cutouts are small.

[Eoghan Murray · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tentatively introduced this to my 2 yr old boy at a time when he was only into trains and diggers and to my surprise he was enchanted. He really took to the animals, particularly how the snail and spider progress across pages. Now over 3 he still loves it and I had a chance to show it to his 1yo little brother today. A true gem of a book.

[Joanne Roberts · Rating 3 out of 5]

Inventive cutouts reveal more and more wildlife as the seasons change. Colorful stylized art will keep readers engaged. Thicker paper pages seem like they will hold up to repeated readings. More of a concept book than a story. May open a discussion, but may not be asked for again.

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overhyped. Fun, colorful illustrations, though the blue leaves were oddly disconcerting. I'm a sucker for peek-through books but this one was not particularly clever. The text made me cringe. I really wanted to love this but was disappointed.

[Kathryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very clever peek through book about a tree, an owl and the seasons. Very cleverly done.

[Zuleyka Araiza · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a really cute book about seasons. Beautiful illustrations!

[Elizabeth Jamieson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lovely and beautifully illustrated peep through picture book. Great for facilitating discussions about the different seasons and what happens to the trees.

[Erin Murray · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lovely text about seasons and change. Very apt coloured illustrations throughout to reflect the seasons in correlation to the story line. Thoroughly enjoyed.

[Melanie Hetrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

"A Peek-Through Picture Book" that tells the story of a tree through the seasons.

Beautiful illustrations. Highly recommended for read-aloud.

[Jessica · Rating 2 out of 5]

Visually, a very cool book. Each page offers a different cutout for readers to see creatures in a tree as the seasons change. The story accompanying each page is just ok, but maybe it’s perfect for younger readers. The colors and artwork are beautiful.

[Negar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Story 2.5
Illustration 5

[Julia Wise · Rating 3 out of 5]

For a book about nature, the author and illustrator are confused about when in the year leaves, flowers, and apples grow.

[Shari (Shira) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute book with two gimmicks: cut out, rhymes. It looks at a tree across the seasons.

[Jacob Ogilby · Rating 5 out of 5]

Britta is my new favourite children's author, these books are just incredible!