Juni likes to spend recess with her favorite friend, a fallen tree in the schoolyard.
Together they go on adventures or sit quietly and count wood bugs. One day her classmate Leo comes over to ask what she's doing. Juni explains that the tree can be anything-a lava monster, a Pegasus, a pirate ship. Leo wants to play too, and suddenly she's made a new friend. Then Juni sees a sign about a community cleanup, which will include removing the fallen tree! She and Leo make plans to go to the principal and start a petition to save the tree. But nothing works. Finally, on the day of the cleanup, Juni knows this is her last chance to show the adults that a tree can be anything and that it can even be a friend. She'll try her best to be there for her tree, but can she save it?
Praise for Hayley Lowe:
★"Discusses illness and depression with gentleness that helps make the big feelings that can go with them less overwhelming. Touching and playful illustrations complement a story that handles themes of illness, depression, and aging with empathy and understanding." -School Library Journal (SLJ), starred review for The Pie Reports
Key Selling Points
• Juni and the fallen tree are best friends and have great adventures, and the tree even helps her make new friends. But when the school decides it's time to remove the tree for safety reasons, Juni knows she has to step up and prove that this tree is worth saving.
• Celebrates how Juni's imagination and creativity bring her a sense of joy and comfort when she's on her own, and how they help her make friends who also enjoy playing make-believe.
• Juni's attempts to save the tree demonstrate how planning, positivity and resilience pay off. When Plan A and Plan B aren't successful, she and her friend Leo don't give up-and their Plan C saves the day.
• Embraces the concept of risky outdoor play by showing all the excitement and friendship the fallen tree gives Juni and her friends, and how free play sparks imaginations and brings people together.
• Hayley Lowe's first book as an author-illustrator, The Pie Reports, received a starred review from School Library Journal and was short-listed for the Chocolate Lily Book Awards.
In this inspirational picture book, Juni loves to play with the fallen tree in her schoolyard, but the school board thinks it's dangerous. Can Juni find a way to prove the tree is worth saving?
Hayley Lowe is an illustrator and storyteller who enjoys exploring a range of media. In previous chapters of her life, Hayley worked as a contemporary dancer and as a children's yoga instructor, where she used storytelling as a tool to teach and ignite imaginations. Hayley lives with her husband and daughter in Vancouver. She is the author-illustrator of The Pie Reports and the illustrator of Diaper Kid and Memory Stones. A tree can be anything you want it to be.
