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Summary
Summary
A festive read-aloud brimming with all the joy and excitement of Christmastime -- beginning, of course, with picking out a tree!
Part of the magic of the Christmas season stems from the traditions that families and friends take part in every year: hanging up stockings; putting lights in the windows; and, one of the most important of all, picking out and taking home the Christmas tree. With style and warmth, debut author Patricia Toht and Jarvis, the author-illustrator of Alan's Big, Scary Teeth, evoke all the rituals of decorating the tree -- digging out boxes jam-packed with ornaments and tree trimmings, stringing tinsel, and, at long last, turning on those twinkling lights. Joyously drawn and rhythmically written, this celebration of family, friends, and the holiday season is as merry as the tradition it depicts.
Author Notes
Patricia Toht once owned a children's bookshop called Never Never Land before turning a love of books into a love of writing. Pick a Pine Tree is her debut picture book. Patricia Toht lives in Atascadero, CA.
Jarvis is an illustrator and animator who has worked as both a record jacket designer and an animation director. He is the author-illustrator of Alan's Big, Scary Teeth. Jarvis lives in Manchester, England.
Reviews (4)
School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 2-A family visits a pine tree lot to pick out the perfect tree. Rhyming, instructional text accompanies the family as they transport the tree, set it up, unpack decorations, and find friends to help decorate it. For example, on how to decorate the tree: "Stretch along some/twinkling lights,/a colored mix/or simply white...Start up top/or near the base;/wrap around/and tuck in place." Finally, when the tree is crowned with a star, the tree skirt is laden with presents, and the lights are plugged in: "LOOK! It's not a pine tree/anymore. It's a.CHRISTMAS TREE!" Friends and family members gaze at it, awestruck, on a dazzling spread that requires a vertical orientation for added drama. The final scene is a view of the family's house after nightfall, twinkling with starlight and strung lights, and a wish for a "Merry CHRISTMAS, one and all!" The pencil, chalk, paint, and digitally colored paintings are brimming with holiday cheer and warmth. VERDICT Share with little ones prior to decorating a tree or as secular Christmas fare for holiday storytimes.-Shanna Kim, Los Angeles Public Library © Copyright 2017. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
Holiday spirit crackles in Toht's warm, step-by-step recounting of how humble stately pines transform into shimmering Christmas trees. Snowy outdoor scenes of tree selection give way to cozy interiors as a family brings its tree home and begins to set up and decorate it, aided by friends. The clipped verse never misses a beat, and Toht stokes gentle anticipation throughout the process: "Add the final touches now-/ garlands strung from bough to bough./ Strands of tinsel on the tips,/ falling down in silver drips./ Then... grab a footstool./ Climb right up./ Set something/ wonderful on top." Toht keeps things secular (an angel is mentioned as a possible tree topper, but that's it), presumably aiming for a broad audience, while Jarvis's chalk and pencil texturing adds to the sense of a casual, homey holiday filled with traditions many families will recognize. Ages 3-7. Illustrator's agency: Bright Agency. (Sept.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Horn Book Review
Pick a pine tree / from the lot-- / slim and tall / or short and squat. So begins this picture-book enumeration of the jolly steps involved in turning a tree into a Christmas tree, from getting it home to finding a spot in the living room to hanging ornaments to At last, its time / to make it SHINE!/ Plug in lights/ along the floor. / LOOK!/ Its not a pine tree / anymore. Tohts rhyming text is greatly illuminated by Jarviss mixed-media illustrations, which imbue each step in the process with holiday warmth and capably capture that satisfying, twinkling glow of Christmas decorations. katrina hedeen (c) Copyright 2017. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
A family of four buys a cut pine tree, takes it home, and, with the help of friends, decorates it for their Christmas tree. The family drives to a tree lot, selects a tree, and takes it home on top of their car. The mother, the father, and their two children set up the tree, with the mother using a saw to trim the tree trunk. Boxes of decorations are brought in, and then friends arrive for a decorating party. When all the decorations are in place, the page turn reveals the completed tree in all its glory. That illustration is printed in landscape format across the double-page spread, so the book must be rotated 90 degrees to emphasize the tree's height, a clever and surprising feature. The family's interracial, with a white dad and black-haired, brown-skinned mom. Other characters at the tree lot and the party include people of different ethnicities. The short, rhyming text has a bouncy, appealing tone, with four brief lines of text per page. Delightful mixed-media illustrations use a flattened perspective, simple shapes, and glowing, light-filled backgrounds for a fresh take on the tree-decorating tradition. The illustrations are all in double-page-spread format with compositions that will work well for reading to a group or with just one child in a lap. Pick this delightful story for a Christmas storytime, for library collections, or for family reading around the Christmas tree. (Picture book. 2-6) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
