The Tree and the River

What an extraordinary book. Entirely wordless, The Tree and the River looks at a particular place in space and time. A verdant landscape, with a winding river and an elegant mature tree. Turn the page, and there is the same scene except a house is now being constructed next to the tree. Turn the page again, and there is now an established place of worship, opposite the tree.

With every turn of the page we see the same spot as it develops through time, the countryside disappears as the buildings spring up. Airships and trains appear, then cars and airplanes and more and more people. We see a futuristic city lit by neon signs and then suddenly..... a flooded landscape and a new ice age, which flattens the buildings and leaves people living on boats.

Throughout all of this the tree stands on its decreasing patch of grass and ages before our eyes. Turn the page again and the waters have receded, leaving the debris of one or two buildings, the winding river, a barren landscape and.... the tree. It is broken and bowed now but it still has enough strength to produce a single branch of leaves and acorns, one of which falls. And roots...

There is so much to take from this beautiful book. Whether you use it to spark a discussion about time, settlements, industrialisation, climate change or simply the lifespan of a tree, there is so much here to unpack. 

The beauty of this book is that it is accessible for everyone. What a six-year-old will find in the ever-changing pictures is completely different from what a 10 year old will spot and ask questions about, so it easily earns its place in classrooms of all ages.

The book is also entirely cross curricular; it can be used in an English lesson to model and develop comprehension questions, 'Why was the first house built there? What do you think will be built next? Is this a rich or a poor village? Where did all the animals go?' It can be used in History to investigate how settlements develop over time and how they reflect society's development of technology; 'Why do we only see an airship once?' It can be used in Geography to consider the role of the river in settlement development, 'Why was it important to those early settlers? Did the river remain as important as time passed?' The pictures also raise questions about climate change and the impact humans have (positive as well as negative) on their environment.

This book will provoke discussion and debate, as children bring their thoughts and opinions about it to their lessons. Who is Team Environmentalist? Who is Team Industrialist? Of course, if they can justify their opinions then everyone is correct. A whole half term's worth of work can be found within these pages… highly recommended.

Picture book / Reviewed by Wendy Kelly, teacher

Suggested Reading Age 5+