By Polly Ho-Yen (author) , Sojung Kim-McCarthy (illustrator)
"A nourishing, reassuring tale about the magic of new life and growth, and coming to terms with change"
Paperback Not Available
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Shortlisted for the Week Junior Book Awards 2023
Framed in the context of a sweet grandfather telling a favourite tale to his library-loving granddaughter, Polly Ho-Yen's The Boy Who Grew a Tree is a pitch-perfect charmer for 5+ year-olds wondering what it will mean to have a new sibling. It’s also a beautiful book about the magic of nature, stories and libraries, and the coming together of a community, with Sojung Kim-McCarthy’s softly emotive illustrations adding further beauty and depth.
Timi has always loved growing things, and now his mum is growing something too – his baby sister. While he imagines his sister “to be like one of his seedlings”, at the same time it was almost “impossible to believe there really was a baby in his Mum’s tummy”. Amidst this confusion, as the arrival of his little sister draws ever closer, Timi discovers something rather strange and magical in his local library – the little green shoot of a tree, which grows to an incredible size after he tends and waters it.
Sadly, though, the library is due to close, but perhaps Timi, his friends, and the magic of the tree can convince the grown-ups to change their plans and protect both the tree and the library.
Exquisitely simple and stirring, this will be a delight to share.
Nature-loving Timi is unsettled by the arrival of a new sibling and turns to tending a tree growing in his local library. But there is something magical about the tree and it is growing FAST... and the library is going to close. Can Timi save the library and his tree, and maybe bring his community closer together along the way?
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A charming early reader for ages 5-8, filled with black-and-white illustrations.
Polly Ho-Yen used to be a primary school teacher in London and while she was teaching there she would get up very early in the morning to write stories. The first of those stories became her critically acclaimed debut novel Boy in the Tower, which was shortlisted for the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize, the Blue Peter Book Award and FCBG Children’s Book Award. All four of her middle-grade novels – including Fly Me Home, Where Monster’s Lie and How I Saved the World in a Week – have been nominated for the Carnegie Medal. Polly’s previous younger fiction novel, The Boy Who Grew a Tree was shortlisted for the Teach Primary 2022 book awards, and featured in the 2023 Read for Empathy collection (primary). The book is also currently shortlisted for the inaugural The Week Junior Book Awards, in the Younger Fiction category.
She lives in Bristol with her husband and daughter.
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Nature-loving Timi is unsettled by the arrival of a new sibling and turns to tending a tree growing in his local library. But there is something magical about the tree and it is growing FAST... and the library is going to close.
The LoveReading4Kids Editorial Team have read and reviewed The Boy Who Grew A Tree and determined it is suitable for children aged 5-8 years old
The Boy Who Grew A Tree features in the following genres: Ecological and Environmental Interest - Fiction, Recommendations, Featured Books for 7+ readers, Gardening, Children’s / Teenage general interest: Practical interests, Children’s / Teenage: General interest, Children’s, Teenage and Educational, PSHE: Siblings, PSHE: Family Issues, Personal Social Health Economic (PSHE), Stories about Family and Friends, Children's and Young Adult Fiction, Featured Books for 5+ readers
Paperback. Not Available.
The Boy Who Grew A Tree was written by Polly Ho-Yen and published by Knights Of Media
The Boy Who Grew A Tree has 119 pages
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