Just Like Me, Climbing a Tree: Exploring Trees Around the World

Just Like Me, Climbing a Tree Exploring Trees Around the World is written and illustrated by Durga Yael Bernhad.Like all of the Wisdom Tale books sent to me to read and review, the quality of the story, art, printing and binding make it a treasure and pleasure to share and display in my home.This particular book is not only suitable for children 5 and older, but also for adults who are interested in learning facts and information about various trees throughout the world.These 34-pages of pictures and text are printed back to back on 17 thick, quality acid free paper bound with a high grade hardback cover and an equally superior dust jacket.The caliber of this book exemplifies Yael’s record of solid accomplishments when it comes to writing, illustrating her creative award winning children’s books. As an avid tree lover she is more than qualified to share knowledge of trees in this delightful and fun educational and ecological gem.The first 25 pages are ideal for use in classroom audiences from 4 to 8 years old. They introduce poetic age appropriate questions with backgrounds of a wide variety of children in or climbing various trees of the world to accelerate the interest and imagination of these youngsters.Each of those pages has a small rectangular boxed frame identifying the common name, scientific name and, habitat of the tree pictured there with a circle containing a drawing its leaves and fruit.The next 4 pages are dedicate an intriguing paragraph of detailed informative attributes of each of the 12 trees in this book—for example, there are over 300 types of willow trees that have deep aggressive roots, grow rapidly, are native to China, are fire resistant, have bark containing salicin (first used for making aspirin) and have a short lifespan for a tree: only 40 to 75 years. On the other hand, many of China’s Gingko trees live as long as 2,000 years and the short and gnarly Olive trees native to Israel can live for thousands of years with proper pruning. In contrast sacred to the Mayan people, Brazil’s Kapok tree can grow up to 230 feet high; has fluffy fiber fruit pods used as stuffing for pillows, mattresses, stuffed toys and life jackets; and its seeds are used in soap and make good fertilizers.These 12 paragraphs contain many interesting tidbits for each of the trees including their important relationships with people, animals and other plant life within their ecological habitat.The inside lining on the front and back covers of the book depict the shape of a world map with an arrow pairing the common name, location and picture of the tree.The last page of the book describes “Why You Should Be Careful When Climbing Trees;” provides the location “For more information about trees and how this book was made;” and tells you were you can download the “Just Like Me Song” written and sung by award-winning children’s performer Laurie McIntosh.While l enjoy all of the Wisdom Tales publications that I have read, this is my favorite!This is a wonderful educational medium that is a perfect way to bond and share fun times with children between the ages of 4 to 8 years old.Enjoy!

"Just Like Me, Climbing a Tree" is a children's book recommended for "ages 5 and up." The poem is a simple but charming "what if" narrative of a child about the different creatures and things you might find when you climb a tree. I loved climbing trees as a child (and still do), and it reminded me of those adventures.The pictures show the tree with a local child, setting, and creatures. It's fun to spot the creatures "hiding" in the tree. Parent's may have to explain what some creatures--like sloths--are to young children. There is a label for each tree that tells the tree's common name, scientific name, and the location. This helps you to match up the tree to the further information in the back. There is also a world map on the inner cover that shows where each tree is located.There is further information about the trees in the back. It's adult level reading, but much of it would be interesting to a child interested in trees. The trees shown in the poem (and covered in the back) are: Weeping Fig (in Cambodia), Montezuma Cypress (Mexico), Mango (Guinea, West Africa), Monterey Pine (California), Baobab (South Africa), Lychee (Hawaii), Weeping Willow (Holland), Kapok (Brazil), Olive (Israel), Gingko (China), White Mulberry (Australia), Southern Live Oak (Southeast United States).I recommend this is a fun and potentially educational book to parents of children who love climbing trees. The author even has a note at the end about climbing safely.I received this book as a review copy from the publisher.

A bird sang in the branches of the weeping fig, beckoning the little girl below. Her toes were stepping on the gnarled roots of the tree and she began to climb. Cambodia was certainly a fine place to find such an interesting tree. In Mexico there was a Montezuma cypress, a perfect tree to shimmy up the rough bark on its trunk. The boy was swinging from a branch and a yellow cat joined him. He could easily see another cypress towering over a house in the distance. What kinds of trees do you have near you? Around the world there are some very special trees to explore and climb.The baobab in South Africa is perfect for climbing too. “What if you crept like a chameleon along a crack, / and knew about a nest, / and reached for the very ripest fruit / and tasted some of the best?” Two boys are checking out that huge baobab while two girls are gathering up fruit from the lychee tree in Hawaii. Yum! One girl is carefully harvesting the fruit at the top branches, but the other girl gathers them from the lower ones. Perhaps if we head over to West Africa we can find yet another fruit tree, the mango!This is a book that explores and discovers the world of trees that young children will love. Each tree is highlighted by children climbing as we learn about a wide assortment of trees around the world. A small sidebar highlights the leaves and fruit of the tree (if any) along with the common name, scientific name, and place where the tree can be found. The text gently leads the reader in a ‘round the world tree discovery tour. In the back of the book is a section that provides more information about the trees in the book. Included are the weeping fig, Montezuma cypress, mango, Monterey pin, baobag, lychee, weeping willow, kapok, olive, gingko, white mulberry, and the southern live oak. This is a wonderful book that would be an excellent addition to homeschool or classroom shelves!This book courtesy of the publisher.