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The Great Green Tree And The Magical Ladders
An alternate cover edition can be found here and here.
Shea Stonebrook is a typical 10-year-old girl from rural Pennsylvania. The problem is, she’s a troublemaker. From not listening to her parents, acting badly in school, and everything in between, Shea is giving everyone a reason to give up on her. That is until one fateful day when an imaginative visitor decides to shape her point of view and offer her access to a place she never knew existed. In order to achieve success, she will first have to accept responsibility for her actions, and only then will she be granted access to each new magical ladder within a mysterious world of enchantment, understanding, and life lessons known as The Great Green Tree.
Shea Stonebrook is a typical 10-year-old girl from rural Pennsylvania. The problem is, she’s a troublemaker. From not listening to her parents, acting badly in school, and everything in between, Shea is giving everyone a reason to give up on her. That is until one fateful day when an imaginative visitor decides to shape her point of view and offer her access to a place she never knew existed. In order to achieve success, she will first have to accept responsibility for her actions, and only then will she be granted access to each new magical ladder within a mysterious world of enchantment, understanding, and life lessons known as The Great Green Tree.
196 pages, Hardcover
First published May 1, 2016
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
May 30, 2017
The Great Green Tree is a magical book full of the wonders of nature that attempts to teach children the lessons of a good, well-mannered life. The characters are varied and interesting. Bits of nature are explained in knowledgeable ways. I believe many children can benefit from reading this book and believe it would be a fantastic teaching tool in the classroom.
March 1, 2017
Shea is a ten year old girl who takes trouble-making to extremes. How others perceive her behavior doesn't bother her in the least as she seems to derive great pleasure from her antics. She is so notoriously bad her family has decided an intervention is in order.
Then one day she thoughtlessly squishes a bug. Not long after, she meets Webster, a bespectacled eight legged spider, and ambassador of the Grass Kingdom. She soon discovers that the tree in her backyard is enchanted. She also learns how her thoughtless actions have hurt the family of the bug she killed.
The concepts of responsibility, bullying, generosity, lying, forgiveness and respect are introduced in an entertaining and engaging manner. Children will enjoy the adventure provided in this wildly imaginative book while parents will love the positive values introduced within. The Great Green Tree And The Magical Ladders is a lovely tale filled with delightful talking insects and birds. This is a book to read and enjoy again and again.
Then one day she thoughtlessly squishes a bug. Not long after, she meets Webster, a bespectacled eight legged spider, and ambassador of the Grass Kingdom. She soon discovers that the tree in her backyard is enchanted. She also learns how her thoughtless actions have hurt the family of the bug she killed.
The concepts of responsibility, bullying, generosity, lying, forgiveness and respect are introduced in an entertaining and engaging manner. Children will enjoy the adventure provided in this wildly imaginative book while parents will love the positive values introduced within. The Great Green Tree And The Magical Ladders is a lovely tale filled with delightful talking insects and birds. This is a book to read and enjoy again and again.
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October 8, 2021“They have their video games, terrible friends, and entitlement, and they see us as bugs. Not individuals. Not beings who have lives and families and things to do. All they want to do is step on us, spray us with chemicals, and stick us to glue traps!”–p. 47-48
Woven against a story of respecting nature and animals is an adventure in a big magic weeping willow. The depth of knowledge regarding nature, insects, and the ecosystem within “The Great Green Tree and Magical Ladders: Metropolis” is truly impressive, as it is nestled amongst a whirlwind adventure and important lessons of esteem, including empathy, respect, patience and more. Learning from the characters and animals within as Julien and readers alike pass each level’s lesson is much more enjoyable and concrete learning experience than being told time and time again by parents, as evidenced by our own main character’s experience.
Growing up, I LOVED reading “The Magic Treehouse” series. These books transported the characters and audiences to different time periods and locations around the globe. I was also an avid viewer of “The Magic School Bus” with Ms. Frizzle and class as they shrunk down and explored various themes each episode. “The Great Green Tree and Magical Ladders: Metropolis” gave me serious “Magic Treehouse” and “Magic School Bus” vibes, but instead of transplanting us to various locations readers are shrunk down and set to explore the ecosystem in the tree in their own backyard.
The tree we venture into isn’t just any ordinary tree though, it is comprised of various levels and characters, including surfing spiders, boxing shrimp, and lab coat toads, among other creatures hidden within. Each level of the tree houses a different theme that our main character, Julien, must pass and understand prior to the next ladder appearing. To be invited to venture into the Great Green Tree Metropolis, one has to be on a destructive path, a path Julien has squarely landed on after burning his team’s soccer jerseys, knocking food out of people’s hands, and finally, destroying an entire beehive. As a reformed bad kid, Shea, Julien’s cousin, can’t wait to join Julien on his journey through the willow tree in his own backyard.
“The Great Green Tree and Magical Ladders: Metropolis” is the second book of this series by Stephen Kozan, the first book was Shea’s own journey through the Great Green Tree Suburbia within her backyard. A handful of characters from Shea’s own journey have returned in this installment but having not read the first book I was able to read this as a standalone given Kozan’s informative writing style. The quality in which Kozan portrays the world within the Great Green Tree Metropolis, and its characters is impressively vivid as the weather, time passing, and various creatures encountered felt so real. This is a book readers young and old will easily escape into as they venture alongside Shea, Julien, Webster and Wexley.
Woven against a story of respecting nature and animals is an adventure in a big magic weeping willow. The depth of knowledge regarding nature, insects, and the ecosystem within “The Great Green Tree and Magical Ladders: Metropolis” is truly impressive, as it is nestled amongst a whirlwind adventure and important lessons of esteem, including empathy, respect, patience and more. Learning from the characters and animals within as Julien and readers alike pass each level’s lesson is much more enjoyable and concrete learning experience than being told time and time again by parents, as evidenced by our own main character’s experience.
Growing up, I LOVED reading “The Magic Treehouse” series. These books transported the characters and audiences to different time periods and locations around the globe. I was also an avid viewer of “The Magic School Bus” with Ms. Frizzle and class as they shrunk down and explored various themes each episode. “The Great Green Tree and Magical Ladders: Metropolis” gave me serious “Magic Treehouse” and “Magic School Bus” vibes, but instead of transplanting us to various locations readers are shrunk down and set to explore the ecosystem in the tree in their own backyard.
The tree we venture into isn’t just any ordinary tree though, it is comprised of various levels and characters, including surfing spiders, boxing shrimp, and lab coat toads, among other creatures hidden within. Each level of the tree houses a different theme that our main character, Julien, must pass and understand prior to the next ladder appearing. To be invited to venture into the Great Green Tree Metropolis, one has to be on a destructive path, a path Julien has squarely landed on after burning his team’s soccer jerseys, knocking food out of people’s hands, and finally, destroying an entire beehive. As a reformed bad kid, Shea, Julien’s cousin, can’t wait to join Julien on his journey through the willow tree in his own backyard.
“The Great Green Tree and Magical Ladders: Metropolis” is the second book of this series by Stephen Kozan, the first book was Shea’s own journey through the Great Green Tree Suburbia within her backyard. A handful of characters from Shea’s own journey have returned in this installment but having not read the first book I was able to read this as a standalone given Kozan’s informative writing style. The quality in which Kozan portrays the world within the Great Green Tree Metropolis, and its characters is impressively vivid as the weather, time passing, and various creatures encountered felt so real. This is a book readers young and old will easily escape into as they venture alongside Shea, Julien, Webster and Wexley.
August 6, 2017
If only all children could be sent up a magical tree with a spider guide to learn firsthand how important it is to work together, develop patience, and show compassion concerning the needs of others. Fortunately, Shea’s journey is the next best way to convey these very important life lessons in a captivating way. The Great Green Tree and the Magical Ladders is not just about a young girl who’s going through a hard time in her life, though. It’s about a type of self-exploration and moments of awakening that we can all relate to or desire on some level. No doubt, most readers will finish this absorbing tale with an eagerness to contribute to the world becoming a better, kinder, gentler, and more peaceful place.
Kozan’s writing is witty, fun, engaging, imaginative, and timeless. Readers will be wildly entertained by his delightful descriptions of clever bugs and dazzling perspectives on nature, but most impressive are his strong female characters who boys and girls alike will no doubt admire and desire to emulate. As children’s literature goes, this book offers everything a mindful parent and/or teacher could hope for, including vibrant, enchanting, full-color illustrations that enrich the reading experience every step of the way.
Highly recommended.
Kozan’s writing is witty, fun, engaging, imaginative, and timeless. Readers will be wildly entertained by his delightful descriptions of clever bugs and dazzling perspectives on nature, but most impressive are his strong female characters who boys and girls alike will no doubt admire and desire to emulate. As children’s literature goes, this book offers everything a mindful parent and/or teacher could hope for, including vibrant, enchanting, full-color illustrations that enrich the reading experience every step of the way.
Highly recommended.
September 2, 2017
Life Lessons t aught with respect and compassion
Excellent children's book that teaches it is never to late to change your ways and love breaks all barriers even with non humans
. An enchanting and heartwarming story with a positive outcome !
Excellent children's book that teaches it is never to late to change your ways and love breaks all barriers even with non humans
. An enchanting and heartwarming story with a positive outcome !
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews