by Maria Gianferrari

Happy Spring! I am delighted to be here on Tara’s blog today to celebrate my newest picture book, BE A TREE!, illustrated by the phenomenal Felicita Sala, and published by Abrams Kids!

BE A TREE! invites readers to imagine themselves as trees—stretching our branches to the sun, feeling rooted and connected to life underground, letting our crowns swing in the wind.

So, here we go! If you could be a tree, which kind of tree would you be?

A baobob?

A palm?

Or perhaps one of the trees featured in these beautiful endpapers?

To be a redwood—imagine all the things she has seen?

Here I am a Redwood National Park back in 2011—what a magical place it is!

Thanks, Maria! If I could be a tree, I’d be a Paperbark, so I’d always have something to write on! I actually have some River Birch trees outside my bedroom window. Sometimes I want to lean out and grab a piece of their natural paper.

Thanks to the generosity of Abrams Kids, one lucky blog reader will receive a copy of BE A TREE! (US residents only—sorry!)

So, while I think almost everyone reading this blog would also choose a paper birch, I have to ask you to think again. If you could BE A TREE!, what tree would YOU be?

Leave one comment below and a random winner will be selected next month.

Good luck!

Maria Gianferrari has climbed fig trees in Italy, stood under stately coastal redwoods and twisted Torrey pines, marveled at mitten-shaped sassafras leaves, colorful coral trees and sawtooth oak acorn nests. She lives with her family, including dog, Maple, in a house encircled by trees. Visit her online at mariagianferrari.com.