What do you think?
Rate this book
A Newfoundland Maple
While on a fishing trip with his grandfather in western Newfoundland, Daniel discovers a maple tree that has stood there for decades. What he doesn’t realize is just how important it is to the local wildlife. Squirrels, moose, beavers, birds, and more rely on the tree for food and shelter. Throughout the pages of this delightful book, find out which creatures visit across the four seasons and learn how just one tree can make a difference.
36 pages, Paperback
Published September 16, 2020
14 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
September 21, 2020
The artwork is great, the story was lovely for reading to my grandchildren. Job well done.
October 5, 2020
BOOK ENDS
First off, the publishers [Pennywell Books] of A Newfoundland Maple assure us that this picture book is printed on Ancient Forest Friendly paper. Way to go, eh b’ys?
Hold the thought.
Using the maple tree as a focal point, author Samantha Baker morphs the seasons through an annual cycle.
Summer. Pop, appropriately be-spectacled, and wearing a blue cap with a bib as flat as a rapper’s, takes Daniel fishing (trouting really, eh b’ys?) in the forest — perhaps to the proverbial Hidden Gully. En route, Daniel meets the age-old maple, a milestone of sorts.
An aside: We never find out if Pop and Daniel caught any trout. Let’s hope they did because — truly — a tramp through the woods, animal sightings or not, is not worth the effort if you don’t get to skiver on a dozen or so trout.
Autumn arrives. Blue jays — raucous friggers — perch among the old maple’s colorful leaves. Squirrels … well, squirrel away whatever it is squirrels squirrel away in a Newfoundland maple. Caribou, ignoring squirrels brazenly chastising and blue jays squawking, huddle beneath the maple when it rains. Oh, and a coyote sizes up a couple of crows, visions of dinner cramming his cranium, no doubt.
Ideally, one — a Pop, for instance — would read this book with a youngster, playfully asking the wee urchin questions such as, “Can you find the ladybug?” Sharp-eyed youngster would poke the page and answer, “Bug.”
“The pine grosbeak?”
Poke. “Bird.”
“We always called 'em mopes when I was a boy.”
“The weasel?”
Poke. “Weasel.”
“Right. Whizzle.”
I tell you, reading with a youngster is a bucket of fun, but my granddaughters will no longer bide still with me and picture books. Can’t say I blame them. I’m boring ol’ Pop and they’re grown girls.
So, I perused the book alone and confess I had to leaf through the second time to spot the wolf spider. Also, at first peek I figured the goldfinch was an evening grosbeak.
Color me stund or blame my spectacles.
Come the second summer, after fox kits are born and robins have nested, Pop and Daniel are fishing (trouting) again. But something other than the seasons has changed and it isn’t their durable woods clothes — Pop’s cable-knit sweater and Daniel’s red jersey.
Nope … it’s Pop’s blue cap, its bib still flat as a plate. Daniel now wears the cap and Pop is bare-headed, the hair on his noggin thinning.
The blue cap switcheroo is indicative of the changing of the guard, so to speak, a symbolic handing-off of things — caps and maple trees; knowledge and woodlore.
That’s what I would have required reluctant scholars to regurgitate when I was a pedantic ol’ English teacher in a previous life.
Boooooooooooring!
Listen, find some youngsters, sit them down and make them find the wooly bear caterpillar.
Whatever.
And, b’ys, about the Ancient Forest Friendly paper.
Several years ago, I visited Daddy’s Boy in British Columbia. East of Prince George, we visited a tract of Ancient Forest — red cedar, some of them a thousand years old; some of them fallen off rotten stumps, dead as Dickens.
Nevertheless, they are some friggin big trees.
First off, the publishers [Pennywell Books] of A Newfoundland Maple assure us that this picture book is printed on Ancient Forest Friendly paper. Way to go, eh b’ys?
Hold the thought.
Using the maple tree as a focal point, author Samantha Baker morphs the seasons through an annual cycle.
Summer. Pop, appropriately be-spectacled, and wearing a blue cap with a bib as flat as a rapper’s, takes Daniel fishing (trouting really, eh b’ys?) in the forest — perhaps to the proverbial Hidden Gully. En route, Daniel meets the age-old maple, a milestone of sorts.
An aside: We never find out if Pop and Daniel caught any trout. Let’s hope they did because — truly — a tramp through the woods, animal sightings or not, is not worth the effort if you don’t get to skiver on a dozen or so trout.
Autumn arrives. Blue jays — raucous friggers — perch among the old maple’s colorful leaves. Squirrels … well, squirrel away whatever it is squirrels squirrel away in a Newfoundland maple. Caribou, ignoring squirrels brazenly chastising and blue jays squawking, huddle beneath the maple when it rains. Oh, and a coyote sizes up a couple of crows, visions of dinner cramming his cranium, no doubt.
Ideally, one — a Pop, for instance — would read this book with a youngster, playfully asking the wee urchin questions such as, “Can you find the ladybug?” Sharp-eyed youngster would poke the page and answer, “Bug.”
“The pine grosbeak?”
Poke. “Bird.”
“We always called 'em mopes when I was a boy.”
“The weasel?”
Poke. “Weasel.”
“Right. Whizzle.”
I tell you, reading with a youngster is a bucket of fun, but my granddaughters will no longer bide still with me and picture books. Can’t say I blame them. I’m boring ol’ Pop and they’re grown girls.
So, I perused the book alone and confess I had to leaf through the second time to spot the wolf spider. Also, at first peek I figured the goldfinch was an evening grosbeak.
Color me stund or blame my spectacles.
Come the second summer, after fox kits are born and robins have nested, Pop and Daniel are fishing (trouting) again. But something other than the seasons has changed and it isn’t their durable woods clothes — Pop’s cable-knit sweater and Daniel’s red jersey.
Nope … it’s Pop’s blue cap, its bib still flat as a plate. Daniel now wears the cap and Pop is bare-headed, the hair on his noggin thinning.
The blue cap switcheroo is indicative of the changing of the guard, so to speak, a symbolic handing-off of things — caps and maple trees; knowledge and woodlore.
That’s what I would have required reluctant scholars to regurgitate when I was a pedantic ol’ English teacher in a previous life.
Boooooooooooring!
Listen, find some youngsters, sit them down and make them find the wooly bear caterpillar.
Whatever.
And, b’ys, about the Ancient Forest Friendly paper.
Several years ago, I visited Daddy’s Boy in British Columbia. East of Prince George, we visited a tract of Ancient Forest — red cedar, some of them a thousand years old; some of them fallen off rotten stumps, dead as Dickens.
Nevertheless, they are some friggin big trees.
September 21, 2020
“A Newfoundland Maple” is completely and utterly charming. It was an absolute delight to read it to my child, this story of a stalwart maple tree that provides shelter and sustenance to all the animals of the forest. This Maple is a constant, something they can depend on as the seasons change - much as it is to Daniel and his grandfather as well, when they go fishing each year in the summer.
I love the relationship between Daniel and his grandfather. The grandfather’s hand on the tree as the opening picture for this story is so poignant … a grandfather who is just as strong and dependable as that tree, guiding his grandson and keeping him safe; so beautiful that it brought tears to my eyes.
The illustrations are a work of art. The images are so life-like, so realistic that I read the words in a hushed tone as though I thought I might spook the animals. Though it would be very difficult to choose a favorite, the beautiful blue jays perched on the maple tree branch against the riot of fall colored leaves: simply stunning.
This book is such a treasure and children and adults alike can appreciate both the story and the illustrations. I can say with confidence that “A Newfoundland Maple” will put down roots in our home and provide entertainment to my kids for years and years to come.
I love the relationship between Daniel and his grandfather. The grandfather’s hand on the tree as the opening picture for this story is so poignant … a grandfather who is just as strong and dependable as that tree, guiding his grandson and keeping him safe; so beautiful that it brought tears to my eyes.
The illustrations are a work of art. The images are so life-like, so realistic that I read the words in a hushed tone as though I thought I might spook the animals. Though it would be very difficult to choose a favorite, the beautiful blue jays perched on the maple tree branch against the riot of fall colored leaves: simply stunning.
This book is such a treasure and children and adults alike can appreciate both the story and the illustrations. I can say with confidence that “A Newfoundland Maple” will put down roots in our home and provide entertainment to my kids for years and years to come.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews