The Tree and the River

In this ‘silent’ book, we follow the find ourselves in a wild wooded landscape. There are mountains in the distance while a river flows across the spread. A house is being built, a family has arrived, their figures dwarfed by the surrounding countryside. The house, still just a framework will be substantial, they are insignificant. As we turn the pages, we watch a community develop. Houses spring up along the banks of the river. Buildings take over from the woodlands, crowding the riverbanks obscuring the flow of the water. Only the mountains continue as the backdrop –while in the foreground a tree is the only memory of that wild world out of which this increasingly urban civilisation has emerged.  The human inhabitants remain dwarfed by their own creations.  What happens when nature burst its banks?  The images are dramatic, the result traumatic – even the tree succumbs. Or not – an acorn falls, carried by water to a new resting place and a new landscape is born. Children arrive – the cycle can go on.

Illustration – and illustration without text allowing the images to tell the story is a powerful tool. Here is it is particularly effective. Becker has not given his world a name, the city is just The City, but its growth and appearance mirrors the urban landscapes that we see around us, and suggest what might come; an almost science fiction scenario. The reminder of the power of the natural world is immediate – the consequences stark. But note the rainbow. Becker allows hope – hope in the resilience of nature and thus its importance. His use of pen and ink brings energy to his art, his palette mirrors the changes that take place moving from the green of life to the neon world of the city and the blues, greys, browns of the world destroyed – then green again. Then a simple spread – a branch, leaves and an acorn. This is a book to inspire conversation with young readers.