A. R. Schaefer

While visiting my favorite independent bookstore, I love perusing their children's books. This one got my attention because I love nature books for kids. As I began flipping through the pages, I knew I was going to love it by the first page.

Through simple words and gorgeous illustrations, children are shown the life-cycle of an acorn and how it affects the environment that it lives in. From the acorn to the tree to the seed to the bird to the flower to the fruit to the forest, and everything show more in between, all of the living things in the forest depend on each other.

The illustrations are just gorgeous with almost a three-dimensional feel to them. Children will love looking at the various things on the pages and learning the cycle of life in the forest. A few of the pages have these gorgeous die-cut images that take kids from one page to the next.

Even the youngest children can learn the importance of taking care of our environment and how each piece is important to the other. I can't wait to send this book off to my little great niece who I know will love reading this sweet story of an acorn. This book is a wonderful celebration of fall for young readers. show less

When an acorn falls to the ground, it’s the beginning of something special. Because of a tiny acorn, a tree may sprout, a bird might build a nest, a flower may grow, fruit might ripen, and an animal might find dinner. From that one acorn a whole forest may grow full of trees and animals.

Budding naturalists will enjoy learning about the life cycle and appreciate the additional information about oak trees and the ecosystem at the end of the book as well.

The Bottom Line: This engaging picture show more book is a great introduction to the concepts of the ecosystem and the food chain. Colorful two-page spreads in paint and ink work seamlessly with the spare words to establish cause and effect in nature. Highly recommended for nature-themed storytimes for grades K – 2.

This review also appears at the Mini Book Bytes Book Review Blog. show less

I love any book that will teach kids about the life cycle, without mentioning a very hungry caterpillar. This book does more than just introduce students to the life cycle of an acorn, it talks about how it impacts the environment, and how something as small as an acorn can have such a huge impact on everything around it. That's exactly what I would use this book for - to help kids understand how every part of nature plays such a huge part in the environment.

I love this book for its beautiful images of how one tiny acorn can affect an entire forest and the world we live in. This informational piece shows young readers how a tiny acorn can grow a tree and how that tree attracts more animals and more seeds and more forests.