Trees: Kings of the Forest by Andy Hirsch - ADVISABLE

Science Comics: Trees: Kings of the Forest by Andy Hirsch, 121 pages.  GRAPHIC NOVEL/NON-FICTION  First Second (Macmillan), 2018.  $13.  Content: G.  

BUYING ADVISORY: MS, HS – ADVISABLE  

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE  

An acorn gets bored sitting around and is looking for excitement, so forest animals show him how a tree is a living organism with lots of exciting things going on inside.  The acorn learns lots of different things about the tree, including how roots grow, how water is transferred throughout the tree, why certain branches grown and not others as well as many different other inside workings of trees.  How trees help with pollination and how the leaves get maximum help from the sun, as well as defense mechanisms and insects that help or hurt trees is explained.  In the end, the acorn decides to hold still, so that he can become a tree and have an exciting life.  

This book is fascinating and answers all the basic questions you could have about how trees work, but it uses scientific terms and complex descriptions.  The illustrations are bright and attractive and help show how the trees work.  These would best be used in middle school or high school science classrooms, because I think the terms and ideas would be too complicated for elementary readers.  

C. Peterson