Genre: Fantasy Fiction
Age Appropriateness: Primary
Media: Acrylic on Cardboard and Linen
Review/Critique:
Harlan Burch made many goods out of wood, and one day he came across a huge sycamore tree. The tree was so large that he moved into it, and after years of woodworking and living, Harlan realized that he was getting younger. Harlan lived a good long life with a big family. Eventually Harlan died, but his family still lived on.

This is good modern fantasy because much of Harlan's life was realistic, except for the fact that Harlan got younger after being old and he lived in a hollowed out tree. The setting in a majority of the book was very realistic and the family dynamic was the same as what we have in our world. ( )

The man who actually lived in this hollow tree made anything and everything out of wood, growing up to have his own family and living happily. I just remember loving the details of the wood and wildlife around his home.

Summary: An old man who lived in the woods built himself a home inside a sycamore tree. Each time he cut down a tree to build things he would always plant two in it's place. He lived in the tree for a very long time until one day he began to get young again. He started dancing, and got married, and he lived until he was 142 years old.

Classroom connection: I could use this book in the classroom when teaching the art of quilting. The story has quilt squares showing things from the book of how they would look on a quilt square. This book shows imagination which could be applied in many different places in the classroom.

A tall tale of a man who lived his life in a sycamore tree. Harlan Burch was a carpenter who found his home in the hollow of a sycamore tree. HE had spent a great deal of time in the woods and loved to pick out trees to make things from. Every time he cut down a tree, he planted two new ones in its place. He was thinking of future generations who might want a tree. He lived a long long life in the tree, and kept on planting trees. At the end, his life starts over. He begins to get young again, got married, had a family, kept on planting and living.

There once was an old carpenter called Harlan Burch who made all kinds of things out of wood including tables, chairs, toys, and coffins. He would go out into the woods to cut down trees. For every tree that he cut down Harlan would plant two young trees.
One day Harlan was out in the woods when he noticed a huge old sycamore tree that was big enough “for a bear to live in.” It was also big enough to serve as a wonderful home for an old carpenter and that was how Harlan came to live in the tree.
Then something very strange started to happen and Harlan’s life took a dramatic turn.