Scan barcode
jaywhistler's review
4.0
Beautiful illustrations. A bit preachy in the text, but any book about preservation and/or ecology is going to be.
mjfmjfmjf's review
3.0
Fantastic art. And a compelling message. But the text was only barely okay. It would have worked even better even wordless. I wanted to like it more. And then it ends with littering.
krismoon's review
4.0
The Great Kapok Tree is a children's book that ingrains an appreciation for the environment at a young age. Now, I think every tree is alive. Give to your children at a young age to make neo-hippies.
dandelionfluff's review
4.0
The powerful illustrations, the detail, the story! I truly love this book, and one of my little girl students loved it, too. "The Great Kapok Tree!" she exclaimed, looking so excited that it melted my heart. Definitely a hit with the wee ones!
Okay, so. Educational chat. We did use this in a kindergarten room, but the content was very dense, and so the teacher had to give just the gist of the story. Some of the more advanced kids were familiar with this book, though, so it does seem possible to incorporate it into a kindergarten room, but overall I'd push this to first grade and see how it goes there. It was effective in teaching the message that we need to care for our environment, but like a few other reviewers have pointed out, the text doesn't really explore the why behind the cutting down of trees, or why this individual felt he had to take down the great kapok tree. The web of this destruction is thrown wide by global economies, but you won't see that addressed in many pro-environment children's books.
Even if they did, though, it might be difficult for children to understand that idea unless they're learning about economies and the nature of consumer chains. But, seeing as that's not even the case with this book, I'm letting it go.
Overall, very good book. I'd buy it for a classroom or for a child's personal library in a heartbeat.
Okay, so. Educational chat. We did use this in a kindergarten room, but the content was very dense, and so the teacher had to give just the gist of the story. Some of the more advanced kids were familiar with this book, though, so it does seem possible to incorporate it into a kindergarten room, but overall I'd push this to first grade and see how it goes there. It was effective in teaching the message that we need to care for our environment, but like a few other reviewers have pointed out, the text doesn't really explore the why behind the cutting down of trees, or why this individual felt he had to take down the great kapok tree. The web of this destruction is thrown wide by global economies, but you won't see that addressed in many pro-environment children's books.
Even if they did, though, it might be difficult for children to understand that idea unless they're learning about economies and the nature of consumer chains. But, seeing as that's not even the case with this book, I'm letting it go.
Overall, very good book. I'd buy it for a classroom or for a child's personal library in a heartbeat.
catmom14's review
5.0
I love the way the message of this story is delivered by the animals and those depending on the Kapuk tree. It has wonderful illustrations that only enhance the story. I would definitely use this to teach about the rain forest as well as an environmental story. I like that there is a map on the endpapers have a world map and animals found in the rain forest shown and named around the edge. I think the page before the title page gives a good introduction to the rain forest and story.