A book about a tree with centuries worth of stories, hope, and wisdom about the world around, stored in its branches.
What is this story about?
In one neighborhood, there is a wise, old, and magnificent tree that has stood tall for hundreds of years. This tree has seen many people come and go, been home to a variety of animals, and has seen the world change around it. This tree is known as Red or Wishtree. On the first of May, people come from all around and leave a wish tied to the tree, which is how Red has become known as Wishtree. This book follows Wishtree's perspective as the tree silently witnesses many events dealing with human hatred, love, friendship, hope, acceptance, and community. In the end, can Wishtree continue to stand tall and watch in silence?
Meet the Author:
Katherine Applegate
Katherine Applegate is a well-known, award winning children's book author. She has won the Newbery Medal for her book, The One and Only Ivan, as well as, spent over twenty weeks on the New York Times children's bestseller list. Katherine currently lives in Tiburon, California and continues to write books. Visit her website: https://katherineapplegate.com/ to find out more about her!
Meet the Illustrator:
Charles Santoso
Charles Santoso is an illustrator and animation creator from Sydney, Australia. His work has been involved in many books, as well as, various animated film and tv projects. Charles credits his inspiration to his childhood memories and everyday travels. His work has been shown in exhibits all over the world. Visit his website: http://www.charlessantoso.com/wp/about/ to find out more about his work.
My Critique/Review:
I think the story-line of this book and the lesson it teaches is phenomenal. This book is so relatable, touching, and takes a unique perspective. It incorporates fantasy aspects such as a talking tree and animals, which make the book engaging. This was my favorite book I read of the week by far! It meets my expectations of a good children's book as it is enjoyable, fascinating, and interesting to read. You never know what Wishtree will do next! Furthermore, this book incorporates the importance of friendship, which is always a great lesson for children. Lastly, this book incorporates immigration to touch on the importance of inclusion and kindness to all, which to me, are the most important life lessons one can have. This is a book that I will not forget.
Thoughts:
The characters in this book play into the main themes of diversity and acceptance. One of the characters, Samar, is a young girl who represents a marginalized population. Her family is of Muslim faith and in this book, they are seen as different and are not welcomed by the community. This mindset shown by members of the community that people of Muslim faith, "do not belong here" is definitely seen in our society today. I think the author does a great job of recognizing these moral issues dealing with religion and immigration that we see in our society. She boldly represents and discusses these topics that many may avoid and see as uncomfortable to talk about. By discussing topics that are so relevant to our society, this book becomes so real and believable.
The author's use of figurative language caught my attention as I read this book. The author uses a variety of things like similes, metaphors, foreshadowing, and repetition. One metaphor I really liked was on page 54 when the author writes: "That's our neighborhood: wild and tangled and colorful. Like the best kind of garden" (Applegate, 2017). Here, the author is comparing a neighborhood full of diversity with different languages, music, customs, and food to a diverse garden full of many different crops. Furthermore, the phrase on page 211 that reads, "Trees cant tell jokes. But we can certainly tell stories", was repeated at the beginning of the book and the very end (Applegate, 2017). This use of repetition helps tie the whole book together and is referring to the stories and wisdom that Wishtree has collected for centuries.
This book is written from Wishtree's point of view. I think this is an interesting and very thoughtful choice on the authors part. By writing the book from a tree's perspective, the reader is able to see the big picture from an observational view. The reader is on the outside looking in. In this book, and even in our society, a tree is a very neutral figure. They aren't bias one way or another, which is shown when Wishtree says: "I was pleased to see Samar's family join the neighborhood. It had been a long while since we'd had any newcomers" (Applegate, 2017, pg. 31). Wishtree does not care who it is, but is happy that new people have arrived to the neighborhood. By hearing the story told from an observational perspective, the reader is able to experience multiple sides of the story. They are able to witness the hateful things that neighbors and community members say and do towards Samar's family, as well as, how Samar reacts to this, feeling sad and like an outcast. She shows this on page 32 as she cries sitting under Wishtree, for example (Applegate, 2017). By the author neutrally narrating all sides of a story, the reader is able to witness the events, make conclusions about the characters, and ultimately, come up with their own opinion.
In this book, I think Wishtree is a symbol of hope and a representation of the world around. Wishtree has been around for centuries and has seen all types of man-kind, the good and the bad. In the beginning of Wishtree's life, it witnessed Maeve find Ama, love her, and raise her as her own. It also witnessed her be mistreated and shunned by the community. On page 147, "they told Maeve that Amadora didn't belong. They told Maeve she and the baby should leave" (Applegate, 2017). Throughout this time of hatred, Maeve continued to have hope and in the end, people came around and accepted Ama and Maeve, descendants of Irish and Italian heritage (Applegate, 2017, 148). Throughout this whole journey, Wishtree was there and a symbol of hope for Maeve, as she would add wishes to Wishtree's branches. Further on in the story, we see history repeat itself. We witness Samar move in to the neighborhood and feel shunned and outcasted by the community. We see Samar continuously visit Wishtree, adding wishes of hope to it's branches. In the end, the community comes around and accepts Samar and her family. Throughout both stories, Wishtree stood tall, being a symbol of acceptance and hope in their lives.
Furthermore, I think Wishtree is also a representation of the world around. At the start of the book, Wishtree starts out by describing how it got it's name and how it is a "celebrity" to the community, with people putting messages of hope on it's branches (Applegate, 2017, pg.11). Then, Samar's family moves in and Wishtree mentions that it is 'sprout-day' to Bongo (Applegate, 2017, pg. 38). To me these two events happening simultaneously, represents the neighborhood growing and becoming more diverse. However, once the community does not take very kindly to Samar's family, the reader witnesses the scene where Wishtree is vandalized with the words "leave" (Applegate, 2017, 44). At the time of this hatred towards Samar's family, Francesca, the owner of the property that Wishtree stands on, begins to hate Wishtree and blame it for all of the problems. The way that Francesca talks about and views Wishtree, represents the viewpoint that the community has about Samar's family. Furthermore, at the end of the book when the community bans together and welcomes Samar and her family, Francesca learns the importance of Wishtree to her family heritage saying, "This tree is staying put. And I hope your family will, too" (Applegate, 2017, pg. 205). This is another prime example of Wishtree being a reflection of the actions, opinions, and thoughts of the community.
One way that I could connect this book to my future classroom is by discussing different cultures. As an extension of reading this book, I could have students share about their own culture or choose an interesting culture in another part of the world that they would like to learn more about. Incorporating food, music, and language are aspects of culture that the book describes, so I think these would be important pieces to bring into our class culture discussion. After learning about all sorts of cultures around the world, I would highlight the important theme of the book, which is that diversity is important and we must be accepting and inclusive of all cultures. To add to this lesson, I think a fun little activity for the class would be to make our own "class wishtree". This tree could be displayed in the classroom so that students could add wishes or hopes to the tree throughout the year.
Making Connections:
When thinking about the connections this book has, I was able to make a connection with My Two Blankets. Both Wishtree and My Two Blankets specifically focus on the idea of friendship and the impact it has. In Wishtree, Samar's family moves to a new neighborhood and she struggles with feeling lonely and like she does not belong. She soon befriends Stephen, with the help of Wishtree, and becomes accepted and feels like a part of the community. In My Two Blankets, Cartwheel moves from a war-torn country and struggles with the shock of a new culture. She befriends a young girl at the park who welcomes her and helps her integrate into this new language and culture. Both of these books represent how being a friend and showing kindness can have a major affect on someone who is feeling lonely or like they do not belong.
Useful Links:
Book Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-P5TSKKBIyo
Lesson ideas: http://www.theclassroombookshelf.com/2018/01/wishtree/
Lesson plan ideas: https://www.wishtreebook.com/static/pdf/wishtree-final.pdf
Lesson ideas: https://bookunitsteacher.com/wp/?p=5932
Teaching Resources: https://asulearn.appstate.edu/pluginfile.php/122111/mod_page/content/20/wishtree%20guide.pdf
My Two Blankets blog post: https://sivretmr.wixsite.com/blog/post/my-two-blankets
Sources:
Applegate, K. (2017) Wishtree. New York, NY: Macmillan Publishing Group, LLC.
Charles Santoso. Photo of Illustrator Charles Santoso. Reprinted from Tuesday Studio Tours, by Andrea Skyberg, 2018. Retrieved from http://andreaskyberg.com/charles-
Katherine Applegate. Photo of Author Katherine Applegate. Reprinted from Book Passage, 2018. Retrieved from https://www.bookpassage.com/event/katherine-