Caitlynn |
“Last night...” Caitlynn started with excitement.
“Was this a dream?” Jake challenged and laughed.
“I heard the trees talking.”
“I didn't know trees could talk.”
Jake |
“How did they know what was in the
book? I didn't know trees could read.” Jake challenged without
laughing.
“Maybe I was reading out loud.”
“That must be it. I could, just
maybe, believe that trees might be able to talk, but read? Come on!”
“Anyway, they had a lot to say about
the book.”
"I bet they did!" Jake smirked.
Toady the Yew Tree |
"The
yew tree, outside my bedroom window; I call her Toady;
said, 'The girl read a wonderful book to me today called
Chipmunk Song. It was
written by a human named Joanne Ryder and the pictures are by another
human named Lynn Cherry.'
Flutter-by the Cherry Tree |
The
cute little cherry tree, named Flutter-by, said, 'Oh! I love it
already!'
They
all laughed.
called
Two Deer, warned, 'Don't judge a book by the name of its author or
illustrator, little Flutter-by. You should judge a book by its
contents.'
Toady
said, 'Yew don't have to worry, Two Deer. She'll love this book.
Its first words are - Under the trees...'
The
graceful Bradford Pear tree, all decked out in white flowers, named
Nightingale, said,
'I love when the humans write stories on the paper they take from
us trees. If I ever get cut down, I hope my wood is used for many
lovely stories.'
Flutter-by,
said, 'Then you could read yourself over and over again!' They
all laughed again.
'Do
tell us the story, Toady,' Two-Deer asked. 'Stories are such
grand things! I can't think of a better way to start a story!'
The
blue spruce tree
in the corner of your yard, Jake, the one you trimmed way back last year...well she's still bent out of shape about it. His name is Owly and he said, 'It had better be a
good story. Those humans usually do everything all wrong.'"
"Wait!" Jake said. "You dreamed a tree in my yard, that I trimmed last year, is still complaining about it? Cat! You got a problem!"
"Just listen, Jake." Caitlynn said. "This is not about you. Toady
said, 'Yew don't have to worry either, Owly, this was a good one. It was
well worth the paper and wood it was printed on.'
'We'll
see!' Owly barked."
"Barked. That's funny." Jake laughed.
"Jake, stop interrupting." Caitlynn slapped his arm and laughed.
'Flutter-by the Cherry Tree said, 'Come on already, Toady. We want to hear the story!' Then she moaned, 'I wish I had seen the pictures myself. I bet they were fabulous!'
"Barked. That's funny." Jake laughed.
"Jake, stop interrupting." Caitlynn slapped his arm and laughed.
'Flutter-by the Cherry Tree said, 'Come on already, Toady. We want to hear the story!' Then she moaned, 'I wish I had seen the pictures myself. I bet they were fabulous!'
'They
certainly were! You can see them if you look in my memories of
yesterday, Flutter-by.'
Toady
said, 'All of you can!'
Owly
the Blue Spruce said, 'Tell us more about the story so I'll know if
I will want to waste my time poking around in your memories!'
'It also had phrases like - deep in the ground - eat the sweet berries - and - stuff an acorn inside your furry cheek, then another and another and another-.' Toady said.
Owly
clicked her branches together, 'Well this author seems to understand a
little about roots and seed spreading at least. I guess it's worth
my time.'
Nightingale
the Bradford Pear dropped a few white petals and
asked, 'Does it have rhyme and rhythm?'
Flutter-by
said, 'It's always about singing with her. That's all she ever
thinks about.'
'Nightingale
has a lovely voice, Flutter-by.' Two Deer the Maple Tree said,
'Just because you always forget your words when you sing doesn't
mean Nightingale shouldn't enjoy singing.'
Nightingale
said, 'Thank you, Two Deer. Your voice is lovely, too.' She gave
her branches a little shake. 'So, Toady, does the story sing?'
'Sort
of. It doesn't rhyme, but it does have a nice rhythm. It even talks
about song and beat.'
Two
Deer dropped some of her tiny winged seeds and
said, 'What is the story, Toady? What happens?'
Flutter-by
said, 'Yeah! Come on already! We want to hear the story!'
Toady
laughed, 'In this book, you imagine you are a chipmunk
burrowing
in the earth, looking out for danger and food, and scurrying home to
safety. Then the days grow colder and a weasel and a hawk hunt you
and the snow comes.'
Nightingale
cried out, 'Are you safe. I mean do you as a chipmunk survive? The
little furry creatures are so fragile.'
Toad
said in a sing-songy voice, 'I'm not going to tell you. You have to
look at the memories yourself!'
'I
saw a chipmunk run by here two days ago.' Flutter-by said all
excitedly. 'It scurried up the drain pipe.'
Two
Deer said, 'It sounds like a great story. I'll watch your memories,
Toady. Thank you.' Then all the other trees thanked Toady, too.
“When
I woke up from the dream I read Chipmunk Song again under a
new group of trees. It was wonderful. Then I went into my attic to
see if the chipmunk Flutter-by had seen had chewed its way into my
house from the drainpipe,” Caitlynn told Jake.
Jake laughed, "You've got too much imagination!"
Caitlynn laughed, "Impossible."
Jake laughed, "You've got too much imagination!"
Caitlynn laughed, "Impossible."
Chipmunk
Song by Joanne Ryder, pictures by Lynne Cherry, Lodestar Books, E.P.
Dutton, New York, ISBN - 0-525-67191-9
6 comments:
This is a really cool way to review a book! Tell Flutter-by she has a fan!
Thanks Bug Slayer. Flutter-by blushed a lovely shade of cherry flower pink when I told her, but she was very pleased.
Interesting collection of trees. Didn't know what a Yew was until now! I found myself very interested in how each one got it's name. One thing I didn't like was how they reacted to the idea of paper. I couldn't accept that beings with that level of sentience could be that casual about it. It seems equivalent to humans arbitrarily using each others bones for construction materials. And that applies to the use of dead trees as well as the intentional harvesting of live trees. We don't need to kill trees to survive. I imagine people have long studied the literary art of adding sentience to familiar lower life forms.
Yes, Chris, I had difficulty figuring out how sentient trees might feel about humans and their tree killing habits. I soul searched a long time about this. I want to represent trees with as little anthropomorphism as possible while still keeping them relevant for kids. I concluded that trees, being plants with a reproductive style of mass producing offspring would have less fear of death than humans, and a more generous, cooperative nature than animals. I feel that trees would be more concerned about the death of a forest community than their own individual deaths. The series I am writing will delve into my thoughts on trees much more.
What a fun and original way to review a book - very enjoyable and brings it to life.
Thanks Ballantine. It was enjoyable to write. I'm glad you enjoyed reading it as well.
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