Beatrice Was a Tree

Ages 4 to 8, Grades P to 3

As Beatrice dreams of becoming a tree, she grows roots and leaves and stretches her branches toward the sky. Joyce Hesselberth, the award-winning creator of Mapping Sam and Pitter Pattern, introduces young readers to everything there is to know about trees in this beautifully illustrated informational picture book.

When it’s time to go to bed, Beatrice imagines how much fun it would be to stay outside with the trees all night long. If she were a tree, she would have a trunk and branches and lots of leaves. Her roots would reach deep. She would catch the morning sun with her limbs and cradle a bird’s nest in her branches. And when the air turned crisp, Beatrice would wait patiently for spring. Stunning and detailed illustrations illuminate this character-driven story about the importance of trees to our planet. Beatrice Was a Tree is a great read-aloud for language arts and science classrooms as well as story times, and it features back matter mapping the anatomy of a tree, showing how trees change with each season, and giving a simple explanation of photosynthesis. A checklist of animals that appear in the art adds an interactive element.

About the Author

Joyce Hesselberth is a children’s book illustrator, an app designer, and an illustration instructor at Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA). She is the author and illustrator of Shape Shift, Pitter Pattern, and Mapping Sam, which was a New York Public Library top 100 Children's Book of 2018 and a Chicago Public Library Best Book. Her work has been featured in national ad campaigns, theater productions, newspapers, and magazines. Her art has been recognized by American Illustration, the Society of Illustrators, and the Art Director's Club of New York. She currently lives with her husband in Baltimore, Maryland.