The Tree in the Courtyard: Looking Through Anne Frank's Window - Hardcover

Gottesfeld, Jeff

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0385753977 ISBN 13: 9780385753975

Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers, 2016

Synopsis

A New York Times Best Illustrated Children's Book
A New York Public Library Best Book for Kids, 2016

Told from the perspective of the tree outside Anne Frank's window—and illustrated by a Caldecott Honor artist—this book introduces her story in a gentle and incredibly powerful way to a young audience.
 
The tree in the courtyard was a horse chestnut. Her leaves were green stars; her flowers foaming cones of white and pink. Seagulls flocked to her shade. She spread roots and reached skyward in peace.

The tree watched a little girl, who played and laughed and wrote in a diary. When strangers invaded the city and warplanes roared overhead, the tree watched the girl peek out of the curtained window of the annex. It watched as she and her family were taken away—and when her father returned after the war, alone.

The tree died the summer Anne Frank would have turned eighty-one, but its seeds and saplings have been planted around the world as a symbol of peace. Its story, and Anne’s story, are beautifully told and illustrated in this powerful picture book.

About this title

About the Author:

Jeff Gottesfeld is an acclaimed writer for page, stage, and screen. His work has won awards from the American Library Association, the Writers Guild of America, and the National Council for the Social Studies. He has previously written for adult, teen, and middle-grade audiences, and this is his first picture book. He is based in Los Angeles, California. Visit him at jeffgottesfeldwrites.com
 
Peter McCarty is the author and illustrator of many award-winning books for children. His books have garnered a number of accolades, including a Caldecott Honor and a New York Times Best Illustrated Book of the Year citation. He lives with his family in upstate New York. Visit him at petermccarty.net

From School Library Journal:

Gr 2–4—A horse chestnut tree in the courtyard next to Anne Frank's secret annex serves as the focal point in this beautifully subtle picture book. Beginning with a quote from Anne's famous diary describing "the bare chestnut tree glistening with dew," the spare text and delicate illustrations create a moving and powerful ode to the tree that gave Anne comfort and hope during the years she and her family hid from the Nazis. Bearing witness to Anne's life in the annex, the tree serves as a fitting surrogate for readers, watching as Anne's story unfolds yet having no power to affect the outcome. Simple phrasing keeps the narrative poignant without becoming overly dramatic or sentimental. Mild anthropomorphizing gives the tree heart. Monochromatic illustrations rendered in brown ink are exquisitely detailed in fine lines and shading, conveying a solemn beauty befitting the book's subject. Additionally, the narrative choice to tell Anne's story through a series of moments deftly captures its pathos and importance, distinguishing this work from similar titles—Jane Kohuth's Anne Frank's Chestnut Tree and Sandy Eisenberg Sasso's Anne Frank and the Remembering Tree. Details of Anne's arrest and death are presented in a brief yet thorough afterword, as is a list of the American locations where saplings from the chestnut tree have been planted in her honor. VERDICT A noteworthy and highly recommended introduction to a difficult and significant topic.—Teri Markson, Los Angeles Public Library

About this edition

• Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers
• Publication date: 2016
• ISBN 10: 0385753977
• ISBN 13: 9780385753975
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 40
• Illustrator: McCarty Peter