The Hugging Tree: A Story About Resilience

A gentle story about resilience, hope, and growing strong through life’s challenges

High on a cliff beside a vast and powerful sea, a small tree grows alone. Through fierce storms, strong winds, and the cold of winter, the little tree bends but does not break. With the support of the natural world and the quiet kindness of a young boy, the tree continues to grow and reach toward the sky.

Over time, the tree becomes strong enough to offer shelter and protection to others. This moving story shows how patience, care, and perseverance can help something small grow into something strong. The Hugging Tree offers a comforting message about resilience and reminds readers that even during difficult moments it is possible to keep growing, hold on to hope, and find strength within ourselves.

Key features:

• Encouraging Message of Resilience: Shows how perseverance and care can help us grow stronger through challenging times
• Nature-Inspired Storytelling: Uses the imagery of a tree weathering storms to illustrate growth and strength
• Supports Social-Emotional Learning: Encourages conversations about hope, determination, and overcoming difficult moments
• Conversation Starter for Adults: Includes a helpful note by Elizabeth McCallum, PhD, with guidance for supporting resilience and optimism in young readers
• Trusted Publisher: From Magination Press, the children’s imprint of the American Psychological Association, dedicated to emotional well-being and healthy development

Jill Neimark is an author of fiction and nonfiction, an award-winning science journalist and essayist, and former features editor at Psychology Today magazine. Her credits include the middle-grade novels The Secret Spiral and The Golden Rectangle, the adult novel Bloodsong, and the adult nonfiction title Why Good Things Happen to Good People: How to Live a Longer, Healthier, Happier Life by the Simple Act of Giving. Her picture books include I Want Your Moo and Toodles & Teeny: A Story of Friendship. A former New Yorker, she lives in Georgia. Visit her at www.jillneimark.com and follow her on Facebook and Twitter: @JillNeimark.

Nicole Wong is a graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design. Her illustrations have been featured in seven children's books, including No Monkeys, No Chocolate and Ferry Tail. Nicole lives with her husband, daughter, and their dogs and cat in Massachusetts. Visit her at www.nicole-wong.com and follow her on Facebook: @painternik and Instagram: @painternik9.