Our Tree

"This book is just delightful. It’s got the most beautiful cover, which gives you an insight into the illustrations inside but it has a really poignant message in the story too. It explores what it means to share space with others, and to find your place alongside different characters, in a way that feels very true to how young children experience the world. It takes a small, familiar situation and uses it to explore much bigger feelings without ever feeling heavy handed. It follows this very sweet little character, Little Red, who is delighted when he finds a beautiful tree, which he wants for himself. It taps into that feeling that lots of young children have: “Mummy, it’s mine!” But all the other animals start arriving in the tree, and that sense of ownership is challenged. Little Red’s discomfort is palpable, but handled with real empathy. His feelings aren’t corrected or dismissed; they’re simply allowed to exist. When he’s had enough of all these other animals infringing on his space, he goes off on his own, and that’s a feeling that many little children will identify with too. Then there’s a slight shift in the story because he finds himself in a mildly perilous encounter with an animal — that’s a familiar moment for little kids, too, as they do find themselves in slightly scary situations — and it’s the other animals he had pushed away who come to his aid. So the children get to see how safety and belonging are created through shared support rather than isolation and that actually doing things on your own and all by yourself isn’t necessarily the best approach. From a reading point of view, as an adult reading it with a child, the book is beautifully constructed. The repeated arrivals of the animals in the tree help the children anticipate what’s going to happen next, and the illustrations carry a huge amount of emotional information. Jessica Meserve’s artwork invites very slow, careful reading, and encourages children to notice expressions, body language and small details. You can pore over these pictures together if you’re reading with the child. As a parent, I value books like this because they open up thoughtful conversations naturally. Yes. And it shows children that living alongside others can sometimes feel complicated, but that shared spaces can become richer when we make room for each other. So it’s a very calm, reassuring story that children return to, because it reflects situations they recognise in their own lives. As an adult reading it with them, you’ll appreciate the message and the beautiful illustrations. It’s a very sweet story to share together. Our reviewers loved it, the kids and the adults too — it is universally loved. We get a lot of picture books being reviewed on the site, but for me, this one really stood out."