This book is about a family that experiences a hurricane that ends up knocking down a large elm tree. The two boys in the family then turn the tree into a tool to enhance their imaginative thinking, the two boys express sadness when the tree is taken away a few days after the storm. I liked this book because the illustrations are amazing and do a good job working with the text. Also, the illustrations are very realistic, as is the story. This creates a strong feeling of believability and realism to the story. I am a fan of both realistic and non realistic stories, as long as there is some personal connection I can make with the story and this book fits what I look for in a good book. Wiesner also does a good job not oversimplifying this book and using words that may not be part of a child's everyday vocabulary, such as indignantly.These are all qualities of good writing.
The book and illustrations work well together to create a seemingly plausible situation and I think students of all ages need to read books that they can connect with. After reading this book I would have the students write about times when they used something like a tree to create extravagant imaginative experiences, like David and George did. Also, this book has a number of metaphors such as a green blizzard to describe the weather conditions outside their home during the storm.I think this book would be a good precursor to a unit of metaphors and would could use this book as a springboard into a brainstorming session about common metaphors. Hurricane could be used during a weather unit as well and with older students I would have them research natural disasters and come up with the main characteristics in groups.
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