Reviewed by Brian Sheehan, Science Specialist, LBUSD
Reprinted from the Spring 2000 Southern Newsletter
Decomposition is a vital part of every ecosystem. It is thought of as a gross, nasty smelling component of the natural world, yet how would the cycle of life continue if it wasn’t for the decomposers such as fire, fungus, bacteria, and insects? It is a beautiful and necessary function in every habitat of our world. Alvin Tresselt’s book, The Gift of the Tree, captures the grace and power in the transformation of a grand oak tree from majestic masterpiece in the forest to rich loam that now is soil for the thousands of acorns it bore during its long life. The story traces the life cycle of an oak tree and describes the animals that depend on it for shelter and food.
The old tree had stood tall and proud in the forest for over one hundred years. Birds nested in its shelter, squirrels made their homes in its branches. Even as the tree grew, life gnawed at its heart. Termites and carpenter ants tunneled inside it. Woodpeckers peppered it with holes. And one by one, the great branches broke and crashed to the forest floor. But as the tree slowly died and returned to the earth, new life began. Chipmunks and mice nestled in the old woodpecker holes. Raccoons found a niche in its hollow trunk, and young oak trees were nourished by their decomposing mother.
It’s an incredible story of the
role of an oak tree in the cycle of nature. Though something ends its life,
its death brings forth new life.
Tresselt’s story is rich in vocabulary words. Students will hear such
words as garnered (“And in the fall they garnered their winter food from
the rich rain of acorns that fell from the tree.”), moldered (“Slowly,
slowly, over the years the forest soil increased as the brown, leathery leaves,
shaken down by the autumn winds, moldered under the snow.”), dormant
(“And
the ants and termites, the dormant grubs and silent fungus, waited out the
winter weather under the bark and deep in the wood.”), punky (“The
years passed, and hard wood grew soft and punky.”), and loam (“On
the ground there remained only a brown ghost of richer loam where the proud
tree had come
to rest.”)
The artwork by Henri Sorensen is beautiful as well. Soft, yet vivid water color paintings accent the story beautifully with lots of detail and many things to see.
Take this book on your hike to a great fallen decaying log. Have the students sit among the decomposing matter and read this treasure to their attentive hearts. Afterwards, allow them, carefully, to explore with anxious senses the recycling of life. Life and death, simulanteously, are right at their eyes, noses, hands, and ears. A powerful, life-enriching wonder to behold.