The Library Tree

by Scott Douglas

Librarians discovered a horrible thing nearly 100 years ago--writers were running out of ideas. It was a crisis that everyone overlooked--everyone, that is, except librarians, who feared their jobs would be lost if they didn't find a way to continue to supply their libraries with books. Luckily for librarians, an invention came along that revolutionized the way books were the Library Tree--a tree that grows new books. As great as these trees were, librarians, being intelligent people, knew they had to keep them a secret; if everyone knew about the tree, after all, then they would get their books from trees and not libraries. So for nearly 100 years they had kept their secret--until the day that Jake Maas, a boy librarians loved to secretly mock, discovered the secret. More

Genres: Books About Books

Paperback

First published June 23, 2008

Reviews

[Suzanne Hare · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a middle grade book that gives a creative viewpoint on the origins of books. It all remained a secret until Tommy sees an interesting tree in the library. This children’s book is imaginative and encourages reading. The illustrations are whimsical, colourful and humorous, just right for children’s books. The emphasis is on reading but accepting others who are different is another lesson. In addition the use of imagination and having a alternate theory behind something we take for granted, encourages creativity. It is a fun book, I am sure children will like, just don’t forget the peanut butter.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[SKP · Rating 1 out of 5]

To give this any stars is actually being generous. I did not find any redeeming qualities in this book. After a 35-year career as a children’s librarian, I have an excellent grasp of what qualities a children’s picture book should possess. This fails drastically. The illustrations are meh, the story is uninspired, it was not well-written to be geared for the intended audience. I would never have used this with children, or recommended it to anyone.

[Marichus Real · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tommy loves reading above all the things and his favourite place in the world is the library, of course. One day he sees something strange in the library and starts to investigate.
An amazing story for all the people who enjoy reading, no matters the age.
I wish I could use some of those trees to plant them in my vegetable garden.

[Bree · Rating 1 out of 5]

In this story, libraries get their books from trees. These trees are tended to by a race of psychic, 3-eyed people who subsist entirely on peanut butter…and they’re guarded by 1-legged, 2-footed ninjas named Ralph.
I often love “weird” stories, but this one was a little too light on the “story” part of the story. The writing style is pleasing, but the actual content of the words on the pages made me cringe. The story is narrated by a very unlikable character, and meanders so much that I would estimate approximately 35-40% is just the filler of the narrator talking – to the reader, to himself, about nothing. It’s annoying rather than amusing or endearing, and the story never really gets going.
Towards the middle I began skipping the “commercials” and whole paragraphs of the narrator blathering on about nothing at all. Unfortunately, I can’t recommend this story even for a long plane ride.