Oh the power of words. There are those who think to quiet what they say.....but really......words are just the beginning ( )

Note: I accessed a digital review copy of this book through Edelweiss. ( )

An okay book about the importance of reading and the impact books have on us and our society. ( )

After the book he is reading drops on the Mayor's head one day, Arlo is horrified when this irate (and not so bright) political leader decides to ban all books, destroying the tomes himself. With no books to read, story-time at school becomes nap time, theaters close down because there are no plays, and restaurants, unable to locate any cookbooks, serve nothing but dry cereal. Arlo, distraught at all of these changes, and missing his books, begins to write a story of his own, leading to the growth of a magical book tree, and the slow rediscovery of books, on the part of the population. But what will the Mayor think of this development...?

An enchanting original fairy-tale from author Paul Czajak, paying tribute to the power of the written word, is paired with magical mixed media artwork from illustrator Rashin Kheiriyeh in The Book Tree. As a bibliophile myself, one who visits the library every week without fail, I appreciated the central message here, about the importance of books to society, and the many different roles that they play in people's lives. That said, what really elevated this one for me were the illustrations, which were simply gorgeous. I'd encountered Kheiriyeh's work before, in her own Saffron Ice Cream, but I think I loved these illustrations more than the ones in that earlier book. Created using oil paint and collage, the visuals here incorporate lots of little bits of paper, with text written in all manner of languages and writing systems. I loved this, and it was (of course) a medium that was quite appropriate to use, given the subject matter. The decorative end-papers, featuring so many different volumes, were also lovely. All in all, a wonderful little picture-book, one I would recommend to young bibliophiles, and to anyone who appreciates beautiful collage artwork. ( )