Bound To Stay Bound

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Booklist - 10/15/2016 Alec loves climbing trees, and his favorite is the great spruce his grandfather planted years ago. One day, men come and ask to cut down the tree for the city’s Christmas celebration. However, the squeal of the chainsaw isn’t half as loud as the screams from Alec to stop! Suggesting they only loan the tree, Alec and his grandpa go along as the dug-up tree is transported and cheering crowds welcome it to the city square. After the holiday, Alec gives the citizens a spruce cone to plant so that they too can watch the seedling grow into a mighty spruce. An author’s note explains how the tradition of the giant tree placed in Rockefeller Center in New York City started during the Great Depression in 1931. The folklike artwork in acrylic ink and colored pencil on the oversize pages is bright and joyful. The dark green palette for the magnificent tree and the colorful city streets and people, bright lights, and snowflakes against deep blue backgrounds enhance this story about the splendor of living trees. - Copyright 2016 Booklist.

School Library Journal - 10/01/2016 K-Gr 2—In this picture book debut, the author addresses a subject close to his heart. Alec is a boy who lives in the country and loves to climb trees, particularly a great spruce, planted decades ago by his grandfather. Every winter he and his grandpa decorate the tree for Christmas, until one year when some men ask his parents if they can use it for the distant city's annual Christmas celebration. Alec's parents consider it an honor, but Alec protests, declaring that the tree could be borrowed instead. It takes time and work, but the tree is carefully dug up, shipped to the city on a barge, and placed in the city center to be enjoyed by everyone. After the holidays, it is returned to Alec's yard and continues to grow, while a sapling takes root in the city square. In an author's note Duvall discusses the tradition of decorating a tree for Christmas, as well as the origin of the annual Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center in New York City. There was a brief time when the center used live trees, and Duvall makes the case for returning to this practice rather than killing a valuable living tree. Gibbon's illustrations are large and brightly hued, with a naive style and a shifting perspective that highlights the size and grandeur of the great spruce. VERDICT An attractive holiday offering with an environmental focus.—Teri Markson, Los Angeles Public Library - Copyright 2016 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.

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