Tap the Magic Tree

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Tap the Magic Tree

Book Information

Category
Picture Book
Publisher
Greenwillow 2013
Curriculum
Science Curriculum
04-08 Picture Book

If you loved PRESS HERE... you know..the book where you press on the dots and shake the book to make things change...you are going to be delighted to know that another author has grabbed on to the same concept BUT used it in combination with the wonder and beauty of....nature!!!

Aha!!! Yes, this is all about discovery and magical powers... yours!!! And the magic all around you. The book captures you from the first turn of the page where you see a bare, gray/brown tree standing patiently waiting for you. Tap it. Go ahead. Just once. Give it a tap. What happens? Turn the page and you'll see what happens. I'm not going to tell you because you'll want to have the experience all for yourself.

Looks to me as though it's done in a combination of paint and collage and it delivers a load of fun and an eye-opening connection to the greatness of nature. Yes, there's magic in this book and there's magic outside in the great, wild outdoors. It can all begin with a single tap and a single tree.

Perfect book to begin a unit on trees, nature, habitats, cycles of the seasons, using your imagination, art.... and on and on. This is a great book for teaching prediction... tap on the page and ask the kids what will happen next. Just plain old fun!!!

Let it begin!!!

TAP the MAGIC TREE by Christie Matheson pub by Greenwillow (Harper Collins) 978-0062274458

Recommended by:  Barb Langridge, abookandahug.com

Sequel is:  Plant the Tiny Seed (2017)

*******

“And the seasons they go round and round 
And the painted ponies go up and down” 
-- Joni Mitchell, “Circle Game” 
“Clap your hands to bring the snow! 
Okay, be patient. Wait! Don’t go! 
Close your eyes and count to ten. 
Magic! It begins again.” 
In these long, sunny days of late summer, I am dragging my feet to slow 
the circles down. This year’s crop of Gravenstein apples began appearing at 
farm stands three weeks ago, and I’ve been baking (and eating) Gravenstein 
apple crisps and apple pies ever since. All too soon they’ll be gone, and 
the apple trees will be changing color. 
There’s magic in knowing that another crop of Gravensteins will appear on 
schedule a year from now, after another full cycle of seasons. But in 
sharing this cycle with young children, we can fall into the practice of 
focusing too much on naming, defining, and segmenting the four seasons instead of 
focusing on the never-ending circle of nature’s magic. 
TAP THE MAGIC TREE is a book for preschool-aged children about the circle 
of seasons that does not include any mention of “spring,” “summer,” “fall,
” and “winter.” 
Instead, in one of those interactive touch-the-book-and-turn-the-page 
stories (made so popular by Herve Tullet’s PRESS HERE), young audiences watch 
an apple tree transform. From dormancy, through growing leaves, budding, blo
ssoming, growing and dropping apples, changing color, dropping leaves, and 
then passing through dormancy as it begins yet another cycle, the apple 
tree does its thing. 
TAP THE MAGIC TREE focuses on showing rather than telling. The rhyming 
text is spare and the vocabulary is appropriate for twos and threes. Adding 
some fresh-made apple sauce or warm apple cider will make this story an even 
more delicious experience. 


Recommended by:  Richie Partington, MLIS 


See more of his recommendations at:  Richie's Picks (https://richiespicks.com/) 


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