The Wind and the Trees

A young sapling grows next to a mighty, mature pine tree in the forest. The sapling says, “Hello”, and the older tree returns the greeting. So begins a conversation between the trees; an intergenerational relationship is formed where the older teaches the younger about the ever-present wind and how it affects them in different ways. As readers turn the pages, the illustrations depict the sapling growing taller and taller, and readers become aware of the passage of years. As the young pine flourishes, so the older pine gradually withers – losing branches and greenery along the way. Readers learn that the wind carries the tree’s seeds so that new trees can grow where others have fallen, a piece of information which turns out to be a nice bit of foreshadowing. After the old pine teaches the younger to “embrace” the wind, they prepare to weather a coming storm together, and the old pine falls out of frame. In the quiet interim, the younger tree looks forlorn, and readers sense the loss but are not to mourn the old pine for long, however. Through the stunning storytelling, readers now know that the aforementioned “embracing” signifies the acceptance of all forms of change, including death. After a page in which readers are called back to the old tree’s words, the wind picks up again, and there grows a new sapling in the old pine’s place. The now mature tree readers saw set out as a sapling greets the younger tree with a “Hello, little one” as the book ends and the cycle continues.

The Wind and the Trees is a deceptively simple tale about the life cycle of a tree. Through the dialogue between the trees, Stewart references new findings in recent tree science, likely having been inspired by popular titles such as Peter Wohlleben’s The Secret Life of Trees. The way in which these lessons are imparted feels natural, and the book is all the more wonderful for being informed by true biology (inherently fascinating as it is). It is a tale as old as time, but, in our current climate and with the growing importance of environmental stewardship, it is timely, poignant, and most welcome.

Stewart’s silk screen illustrations are vivid and gorgeous. The relatively large size of the book makes the nature depicted all the more impressive, with shapes and colours reminiscent of the work of the Group of Seven and Tom Thomson (sometimes a purple tree trunk at dusk just looks more true to life than brown!). Readers don’t see the ground or horizon, but instead their gaze is focused on the trees’ branches and the sky behind. The sky – dynamic and expressive – changes from sunrise to sunset, clear to cloudy, from a cool afternoon gray to a twinkling starry night, and even a dazzling display of the aurora borealis. Geese fly in a “V” formation across the sky, migrating home in Spring; bats swoop around, feeding on insects at dusk. The titular wind is a constant presence, twisting the trees’ branches to and fro throughout the seasons. Woodland creatures appear here and there as small, dark silhouettes, taking shelter and making their homes in the trees: a raccoon, a family of squirrels, a porcupine, a hive of bees, a pair of nesting eagles. The eagles, originally nesting in the old pine, come back at the end of the book to build their new home in the sapling that has now grown to maturity. One more nod from the author; life goes on.

Stewart’s lovely dedication is worth mentioning as well: “For every tree that has shared its story; for all who have shared those stories; and for all the storytellers to come.” I absolutely loved The Wind and the Trees and will be happy to share its beauty with the children in my life as well as with families in my library storytimes. It is a universal tale of the circle of life, a lovingly told homage to the steadfast magic of nature and the interconnectedness of all things.