I Live in a Tree Trunk

by Meg Fleming, Brandon James Scott (Illustrator)

The irresistible companion to I Was Born a Baby —a hilarious read-aloud with catchy rhymes and bold, silly art about animals and the places they call home! I live in a tree trunk. I live in a barn. I live in a shoebox. I’m down on the farm… Soon all the other animals can’t help but share what their homes are called, too. Readers will learn about porcupines, salamanders, groundhogs, and more. But when the rabbit, platypus, and meerkat realize their homes share the same name, they can’t believe it. “Are you for SURE? I had NO clue!” becomes a catchy, energetic refrain readers will love chanting. ? The text invites readers to predict what the animal is by using context clues and checking the endpapers to see if they guessed right. The strong rhythm and unexpected discoveries of the animal kingdom, plus deadpan humor and wonderfully expressive art will spark a conversation about habitats and nature and leave readers wanting to read it aloud again and again.

Genres: Picture Books, Animals, Childrens, Nature, Storytime, Juvenile, Fiction

40 pages, Hardcover

Published April 18, 2023

About the author

Meg Fleming is an award-winning children’s book author, a fan of all dogs and a big-time laugher. Also, a voice teacher, Meg draws on her love of rhythm, rhyme, and lyricism to create and imagine stories.

Meg is the author of Sounds Like School Spirit (illus. Lucy Ruth Cummins), which landed the #1 spot of The Today Show’s list of Best Back-to-School books, Sometimes Rain (illus. Diana Sudyka), an ALA Top 10 Picture Book for Sustainability, I Heart You (illus. Sarah Jane Wright), a Children’s Fiction Honoree Winner from the Society of Midland Authors, Ready, Set, Sail! (illus. Luke Flowers), an Illinois Good Reads selection, Here Comes Ocean (illus. Paola Zakimi) and Ready, Set, Build! (illus. Jarvis)—all of which have received critical acclaim from Kirkus, Publishers Weekly, School Library Journal, The Washington Post and the like… but most importantly, Meg’s books have become beloved treasures to children of all ages.

Be on the lookout for Meg’s forthcoming books, I Was Born A Baby (illus. Brandon James Scott), Wondering Around (illus. Richard Jones), Rock That Vote (illus. Lucy Ruth Cummins) and I Live In A Tree Trunk (illus. Brandon James Scott).

Meg lives outside of San Francisco with her husband, three kids and their ridiculous and adorable golden retriever named Opal.

Reviews

[Kathryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Big eyes and cute faces, they are sprinkled on every page. I loved it.

[Milton Public Library · Rating 5 out of 5]

I Live in a Tree Trunk is formatted the same way as Fleming's last picture book I Was Born a Baby. Equally as lyrical and fun, this book introduces kids to different kinds of animal homes. It is cute and silly, yet still informative. This would make a great read-aloud as the text is easy to understand and the pictures are simply adorable!

Find it in our SHARE Catalog today!

Ashley C. / Milton Public Library #CheckOutMPL

[Robin · Rating 3 out of 5]

In rhyming text cute animals tell the name of the place that they sleep, sometimes discovering other species call their place the same name.
Love the illustrations!

[molly · Rating 3 out of 5]

illustrations were cute as hell but the kids and i could not the fuck figure out what some of those animals were

[Samantha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow!!! I love the story and all the colors in this book. The artwork is GREAT!!!!! It is a book I will get my grandkids.

[Mandy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Picture book nonfiction. Meg Fleming and Brandon James Scott team up for this exploration of animal habitats. It’s similar in style and readability to their previous book, I was Born a Baby. The bright colors feature all sorts of animals sharing what their habitat is called. There are farm animals, ocean animals, forest animals, and polar ones too. In a swinging rhyme, the reader is introduced to all sorts of habitat types. The buffalo lives on a ranch, the polar bear an iceberg. The snake lives on a branch—and so does the monkey, the koala, the tree frog and the sloth! This book is a joy to read, yes even over and over again. Animal names are provided on the endpapers with pictures for additional information.

[Barbra · Rating 5 out of 5]

The wide-eyed animals lively illustrated in this book live in jungles, on farms, in the ground, water, and trees. Some have similar dwellings, but all are unique. With easy-to- read text children will have fun learning about different animals and their special habitats. The end papers are cleverly filled with cute drawings and animal identification arranged by environment so children can seek-and-find.

[Kalynne]

Date: 09.20.24
Attendees:82
Theme: Animals
Introduction and announcements: We Clap and Sing Hello (Animal Style)

Book one: Poo-Dunit? A Forest Floor Mystery by Katelyn Aronson

Song/rhyme/game one: Poo-Dunnit match

Book two: I am a Tiger by Karl Newson

Song/rhyme/game two: The Run Stop by The Funky Monkeys

Book three: I Live in a Tree Trunk by Meg Fleming

Song/ rhyme/ game three: Animal Freeze Dance Song by The Kiboomers

Activity: Coloring Pages

[Ashley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I Live in a Tree Trunk is formatted the same way as Fleming's last picture book I Was Born a Baby. Equally as lyrical and fun, this book introduces kids to different kinds of animal homes. It is cute and silly, yet still informative. This would make a great read-aloud as the text is easy to understand and the pictures are simply adorable!

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

The aloof expressions of each critter in this funny, informative, and adorable rhyming book made my heart so happy! You might be surprised to learn about the different kinds of homes that many animals have-- and how alike or different they can be!

[Viviane Elbee · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fun way to introduce children to the names of the homes of animals, and also show how various animals might use the same word for their homes (for example, nest, or burrow) and yet have homes that are quite different from each other.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

The homes that animals make have interesting names! Rhyming but not droning, with elements of tongue-in-cheek fun (Raccoon, I'm looking at you.) The "Are you for sure? I had no clue" refrain felt a little random to me, but it wasn't terrible.

[Sophia Sowle · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fun educational story of all sorts of animals and insects and where they live. This has great illustrations as well as fun facts for students to learn about animal habitats and characteristics.

[Angie Counsell · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great book to study animals and where they live. You can talk about different places animals can live that are technically the same place (a burrow, a limb, a nest, etc) and how it looks so different for different animals. Great for preschool.

[Edward Sullivan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun, catchy rhymes and bold, silly art about animals and the places they call home.

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this! What a great way to introduce the concept of animals homes. Perfect for very young and older readers a like with cute illustrations.

[Anthony · Rating 4 out of 5]

A playful look at where animals live and what they call their homes. Fun, educational and read aloud enjoyable. It asks the question, where do you live?

[Kelly]

This book was okay. Some of it was rhyming, good repetition, very basic.

[Sarah Threlkeld · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun intro to different kinds of animal homes.

[Sierra Dertinger · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well, if this wasn’t the cutest, informative book about animals and their homes. A must purchase for all elementary libraries!

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a lot of fun.

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked it but it's a bit long.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Words for homes have many meanings. I loved the illustrations with the animal expressions. Some of them made me laugh. This would be a beautiful book for K-2 and learning about habitats/homes.

[Ann]

Cute!

[Miss Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

A toddler and up book about the different homes animals and people have.

[Chrissy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Storytime Themes: Animals, Nature, Homes

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book! It's really fun to read out loud.

Found in L4L Volume 82.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kids really enjoyed this.

[Sheri · Rating 3 out of 5]

A simply written easy to read picture book about animals and where they live. Easy for a child to read the few words and big letters and simple sentences as they learn where various animals live.

[Suzie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute illustrations. There was something a little off/lacking in the rhythm and rhyming.