cover image Have You Seen Trees?

Have You Seen Trees?

Joanne F. Oppenheim. Scholastic, $14.95 (1pp) ISBN 978-0-590-46691-2

Vibrant watercolors impart new luster to this poem first published nearly 30 years ago and still humming with life. ``Have you seen summer trees?/ Shade-me-from-the-light trees./ Whisper-in-the-night trees''-Oppenheim's exuberant interrogatories all but demand that readers not only see trees but also touch them, listen to them, sit under them and taste their fruit; in sum, experience them with a full range of senses, in all seasons and all climes. The delicate brush strokes and glowing colors of the Tsengs' (The Seven Chinese Brothers; The Ghost Fox) illustrations celebrate trees in all their varied glory, from the sun-drenched yellows and greens of fresh buds to the flame reds of autumn maples, to the brittle, icy blues and whites of winter-coated branches. The artwork captures a range of moods as well: children jump in a pile of raked leaves, laze under summer willows and gather 'round the campfire, a glowing circle of light beneath a star-speckled sky. Ages 3-7. (Apr.)