Everything You Need for a Treehouse

May 1, 2018

K-Gr 3-The hunt for a perfect spot for a tree house starts appropriately from the ground up. The illustrations in this book do not disappoint-beginning with a sweeping image that urges readers to imagine a "home of timber and rafters in wrangled, gnarled bark." Kids will love climbing upward to the canopy with each turn of the page, where they will discover a feast of details. Included are images of airy spaces designed for plants or books, ladders or lifts for those who use wheelchairs, places to sleep amid branches, and the "fuzziest kind" of socks and a sleeping bag without holes. With a view of the stars and a wish for "secrets and whispers," this book urges adventure and creativity with digitally enhanced figures created with graphite and softly colored and highly detailed sweeping vistas-and the accompanying prose to encourage thoughtfulness in young poets. VERDICT A suggested first purchase for young and old readers alike.-Mary Elam, Learning Media Services, Plano ISD, TX

Copyright 2018 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

June 18, 2018
This fantastical picture book begins with an invitation to pause and dream: “Everything you need for a treehouse/ starts with time/ and looking up.” In subsequent spreads, a diverse cast of kids creates increasingly elaborate, whimsical structures, from a spiraling tree-canopy platform to a giant, multi-story basket nestled high within branches. Poetic text from Higgins (This Is Not a Valentine) reaches for warm intimacy by directly addressing young readers, but the alliterative lines’ meaning can feel obscure (“maybe a rope,/ some twisted twine/ of spun sugar and sap”). The digitally colored graphite illustrations by Hughes (Charlie & Mouse) truly shine, with scenes of children playing, reading, sharing secrets, and stargazing in wondrously detailed worlds within worlds of their own making. A final image of kids on a suburban terrace eying a single potted tree offers a return to the opening line’s gentle reminder: “Everything you need for a treehouse/ starts with time/ and looking up.” Ages 3–5.

January 1, 2019
This story about building a treehouse is an adventure in imagination, with appealing, whimsical illustrations showing a multicultural cast of kid-builders. The text may puzzle some young readers and listeners with its layers of narration and overly poetical language. Still, the fantastical structures in Hughes's art, hand-drawn in graphite and with Photoshop, are awe-inspiring.

(Copyright 2019 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)