Cool Green: Amazing, Remarkable Trees

by Lulu Delacre, Lulu Delacre (Illustrator)

Overview

A portrait of some of the world’s most incredible trees, seen through the eyes of a landscaper who loves them—and his granddaughter who is beginning to understand why.

Why am I in awe of trees?
Trees are astounding!
Let me share with you, mi niña,
some of the reasons why.

As he works with his young granddaughter to nurture a potted sapling, a Latino landscaper shares his love and admiration of trees. From the extraordinary rainbow gum tree to the mighty, towering redwood, each of the thirteen specimens he tells of is a miracle of the natural world—and some are strange beyond the wildest imagining. Brimming with exuberance and color, this ode to trees of the world—and the vast knowledge of landscapers and gardeners—offers a feast for the eyes, with author-illustrator Lulu Delacre paying touching tribute by imbedding seeds, fronds, and leaves within her art. Complete with an author’s note, glossary, and further information on the featured trees, Cool Green will have readers eager to turn the pages to discover each new reminder of what a precious place our earth is.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781536231823
Publisher:	Candlewick Press
Publication date:	03/28/2023
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	20 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Lulu Delacre is an award-winning and best-selling author and illustrator of many children's books, including ¡Olinguito, de la A a la Z!, which was an Orbis Pictus Honor book; Lucy Soars; and Turning Pages by Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor. She is also a three-time Pura Belpré Honor recipient, most recently for The Storyteller’s Candle by Lucía M. González. Born in Puerto Rico to Argentinian parents, Lulu Delacre now lives in Washington, DC.

I was born and raised in Puerto Rico. My magical island instilled in me the love of and pride in the Latino culture and Spanish language. My parents were from Argentina, and my grandma was from Uruguay. I studied art in Paris. One day I married the son of a Cuban and came to live on the mainland.

In 1985, with our first baby in my arms, I longed for a collection of songs like the ones I grew up with. A songbook in español. I could not find the one to borrow or buy in the US, so I created my own. Published as Arroz con Leche: Popular Songs and Rhymes from Latin America, this collection has been in print for over thirty years! I love to celebrate all things Latino in my work. I write in both English and español, and I illustrate my own work as well as the work of others. I’m proud to have illustrated Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s autobiography Turning Pages. Today, I have forty-three titles to my name.

Ever since I was little I’ve loved to draw, but it's not the only thing I liked to do. I also loved to observe bugs, catch butterflies, and examine leaves and flowers. I began to garden in my teens, and in my previous home I planted and nurtured seventy-five different species of plants!

Today I love to travel to meet new people and explore other cultures. I garden on a roof terrace. And I can’t go to bed without having a small piece of dark chocolate with a cup of perfumed tea.

Editorial Reviews

03/27/2023

Coconut palms, monkey puzzles, baobabs, and many others appear in this stylized visual celebration of trees’ many magnificent features. An opening exchange between a Latinx-cued child and their abuelo (“Why am I in awe of trees?/ Trees are astounding!”) frames affectionate verse that highlights the surprising characteristics of coniferous and deciduous varieties alike. A vibrant rainbow gum is “Mother Nature’s/ ever-changing masterpiece,” while “The Wollemi pine/ is a dinosaur tree.” English text that intersperses Spanish phrases further lauds “old and wise” mother trees and an “intricate network/ of fungal filaments.” Employing acrylic paint, stamped leaf prints, and texture-providing collaged specimens, perspective-oriented illustrations alternately look upward, zoom in on bark, and offer distant silhouettes, fittingly hinting at the many ways in which trees are “cool green.” An author’s note and tree facts conclude. Ages 4–8. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

This globe-trotting, poetic homage pays tribute to some of nature’s most unusual trees. . . a deep dive into a fascinating aspect of the natural world. . . . A thought-provoking arboreal exploration.
—Kirkus Reviews

This poetic picture book introduces young readers to "some of the reasons why trees are astounding." . . . Illustrations done in acrylic paint, stamped leaf prints, and "collaged specimens" are able to provide interesting details and dynamic angles of the fascinating flora.
—Booklist

Readers learn about each tree by following the path of a young girl and her abuelo as they work together checking on and caring for trees. . . . Delacre’s declaration of the essential role of trees is admirable and should be heeded by all; in text and pictures she makes clear their beauty and uniqueness.
—School Library Journal

Coconut palms, monkey puzzles, baobabs, and many others appear in this stylized visual celebration of trees’ many magnificent features. An opening exchange between a Latinx-cued child and their abuelo (“Why am I in awe of trees?/ Trees are astounding!”) frames affectionate verse that highlights the surprising characteristics of coniferous and deciduous varieties alike.
—Publishers Weekly

Cool Green is a beautiful and informative introduction to some of the world’s most fascinating trees.
—Margarita Engle, Newbery Honor–winning author of The Surrender Tree and Young People’s Poet Laureate Emerita

This poetic text . . . describes in child-appropriate terms the characteristics of trees around the world that show ecological diversity and adaptation, as seen through the eyes of a landscaper and his granddaughter. . .Fuller explanations about the trees are in the back of the book, with text and pictures by an award-winning author/illustrator.
—The Pioneer Press

From the Publisher

04/01/2023

Gr 2–5—There is so much life in trees, and trees bring so much life into our world. Delacre shares her love for trees by selecting 14 different ones from around the globe. Readers learn about each tree by following the path of a young girl and her abuelo as they work together checking on and caring for trees. Across the spreads, readers see them planting seeds that will grow into mighty trees. Delacre also provides historical information about the trees featured in the book, sharing research and how she arrived at her work. Finally, she challenges readers to be good stewards of trees. VERDICT Delacre's declaration of the essential role of trees is admirable and should be heeded by all; in text and pictures she makes clear their beauty and uniqueness.—Laura Ellis

School Library Journal

2022-12-14
This globe-trotting, poetic homage pays tribute to some of nature’s most unusual trees.

More than 73,000 species of trees exist on Earth, and, as Delacre explains at the end of the book, this volume focuses on some of the rarer 9,000 that most humans will never encounter. As told through a grandfather’s recounting to a granddaughter (brown-skinned and cued as Latine), with some unitalicized Spanish included, this work looks at trees such as General Sherman, a giant Sequoia in Tulare County, California; the African baobab; and the rainbow gum, found in Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and the Philippines. Remarkably, Delacre has incorporated leaves from the actual trees into the book’s vivid illustrations. Unfortunately, a sense of place is lost amid the verse (“its white hanging bells, / laden with sweet-sour scent, / lure bats from beyond”). It’s not until the backmatter, which includes a note from Delacre and a section on the importance of trees, that the locations and names of the trees covered are made explicit. There’s so much good information here that it’s a shame so much of it isn’t more effectively woven into the narrative. Still, the material as a whole is a deep dive into a fascinating aspect of the natural world.(This book was reviewed digitally.)

A thought-provoking arboreal exploration. (websites, bibliography) (Nature picture book. 4-8)

Kirkus Reviews