The Grandad Tree - Hardcover

Cooke's (So Much, 1994) restrained, tremendously affecting tribute to the continuity of life is a wise and warm recognition of changes even as seemingly disruptive as death. Leigh records what her older brother Vin tells her about the apple tree in the garden under which they played with Grandad. Starting as a seed, Vin said, the tree grew and grew, and it ``will be there forever.'' The tree changes seasonally but remains the tree, becoming a metaphor for Grandad, who started as a baby, grew up to go to school and climb coconut trees in order to scan the sea, then left to marry, raise a family, and impart the notion that life is change. In a few artful words, readers are gently prepared to accept the information that ``sometimes things die, like trees, like people . . . like Grandad,'' and to appreciate the planting of memories that grow in rich, intergenerational family soil to keep loved ones living; Vin fiddles for his mother and sister as Grandad fiddled for them all. In a final, sensitive response to his sister's feelings, Vin plants a seed for Grandad next to the apple tree and helps her care for it when she's sad. Both children know the seed will grow and change as Grandad did, but they will love it always, as they do Grandad. Wilson's (Freedoms Gift, not reviewed) pastels warmly portray the various stages of Grandads life and the lives of those who come after. (Picture book. 5-7) -- Copyright ©2000, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.