The Horn Book Guide

PICTURE BOOKS

Sommerdorf, Norma

An Elm Tree and Three Sisters

32 pp. | Viking | February, 2001 | Trade ISBN 0-670-89308-0 $$15.99

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Erika Weihs. Three sisters plant an elm tree in their farmyard, supplying themselves first with a place from which to swing, then a backdrop for weddings, and, as old ladies, simply shade at coffee time. After the tree becomes diseased and is cut down, three great-granddaughters plant a new one. The folk-art-like oil illustrations are more successful at buildings and landscapes than human figures in this somewhat sentimental circle-of-life story.

Reviewer: Bridget McCaffrey