The Great Kapok Tree: A Tale of the Amazon Rain Forest

In my opinion, the Great Kapok Tree is one of the best pieces of children's literature I've read. First, the illustrations are incredible. In one of the very first pages it has an entire map of the world and where the rainforests are located. Then on the side it has a picture of the levels of the rainforest and a little description on the next page. Throughout the book, the colors are vibrant and make the rainforest seem extremely lively. Second, I like how the characters in the story were animals and the author used personification to present the moral of the story. They each talk about how the rainforest is important to them. Third, I liked how the theme of this story is subtle yet but easily understood by every reader. They can see show more that even children can make the biggest difference in the world and the main idea of this book is to conserve our rainforests. show less

Keeping with my children's book trend, I picked this up because it was the Longwood Gardens community read children's book for 2015. The art is lovely, as is the story. Great for teaching children about ecosystems and the rainforest, though the author is certainly standing on the shoulders of existing books that contain similar information. The narrative is excellent for conveying the theme, and I would suggest this as a great gift for a child between five and ten years old, although younger and older children would likely enjoy the rich artwork.

Stories with a strong environmental message lend themselves to children's picture books. The Great Kapok Tree by Lynne Cherry is in this tradition being a book with gorgeous illustrations of rainforest animals and plants with a message about protecting the Amazon.

This one embraces magical realism bringing an outsider face to face with the creatures who rely on the kapok tree for their livelihood. When the lumberjack comes to the Great Kapok tree he is overcome with fatigue and falls asleep at its base. There he is visited by the creatures of the forest.

He is visited by reptiles, insects, birds, cats and finally the natives of the forest. For this lumberjack the experience is enough to convince him to leave the tree standing. show more Realistically, that's often not the case. Cherry's take home message though is that if enough people learn about the diversity of the forest, maybe it can be saved.(l show less

This was a wonderful story about a man coming to the rainforest to cut down a tree and then he falls asleep. While he is sleeping different animlas from the rainforest whisper in his ear while he is sleeping why they do not want him to cut down the great kapok tree. You could use this book as a reading or writing mini-lesson to show how the author's craft of using personification. Also, it could be incoporated into a social studies unit because it explains how people affect the environment, and all the different elements of the rainforest.

The Great Kapok Tree: A Tale of the Amazon Rain Forest is a wonderful environmentally conscious book to have in home or school library. Lynne Cherry tells a story of a man who enters the Amazonian forest with an ax intent on chopping down a Kapok tree. As he tires and naps in the forest, each of the animals the trees ecosystem supports, from the smallest tree frog to a large jaguar, whispers many reasons the tree must be protected in the sleeping mans ear. When he wakes to the animals surrounding him he recognizes the error of his ways and understands how many animals lives depend on the great tree.

I think this book is a great tool to teach young children the importance of conservation. The realistically detailed colored pencil and show more watercolor illustrations bring to life the beauty of nature and intensify why we must strive to preserve our rainforests. I also appreciate that Cherry includes an opening page that identifies each of the animals in the story as well as a world map of all our rainforests. Moreover, I think both children and adults will find it poignant that she included a personal letter at the end stressing the importance of saving our forests and what readers can do to help. show less

The Author could have gotten her message of "save the rain forests" across by using half the number of animals she used to spell out the damage that mankind is doing by chopping down the rain forest. Also, I felt that this book is way too political. For the age group that it is intended, it tries to foster the notion that children this age can make a political statement to big business to not cut down the rain forests. What I am saying here is that the message is misguided to the wrong age group.

The book is beautifully illustrated, but the print is rather small. It would be a good book for an adult to read to a child, but not for a child to read on their own. I feel that an adult can explain what is going on in the world in between show more pages so that the book can make a greater impact on the child. show less

One day, a man exhausts himself trying to chop down a giant kapok tree. While he sleeps, the forest’s residents, including a child from the Yanomamo tribe, whisper in his ear about the importance of trees and how "all living things depend on one another" . . . and it works.