The Tree and the River by Aaron Becker

 Aaron Becker is a master of wordless picture books and his latest creation follows the rise and fall of a civilization, seen in the growth, survival, and death of a tree on a curve of river.

The title page shows a small tree, bending slightly towards the backwards S curve of a river. In the first spread, we see a more panoramic view, with mountains in the distance, trees and hills, and the first signs of human habitation, a family building a house across the river from the tree. On the next spread, the human dwellings have grown and become differentiated in style and color. The first house is tinted blue, with ark-like roofs and a waterwheel. The second dwelling is a large, communal settlement with touches of red and tiered straw roofs. The children play happily together, swinging from a rope tied to the tree into the river.

As the two towns grow, their colors darken and they become more disparate. Walls are built, the river is diverted into new channels, and there are increasing hints of hostility between the two groups. An abrupt change shows the two towns largely demolished, the tree still standing over the partially-diverted stream. The town is rebuilt, in a meshed version of the two cultures, and an industrial age of steam begins, with the river tightly bound into a lock. Technology arrives with electric light, cars, and a distant plain. The tree is now a venerable, massive oak, bending over the remaining curve of a river that can just barely fit a small boat. A dazzling of lights shows the leafless branches of the tree stretched out against the neon flares of billboards, shifting to a dead, flooded winter, with a few survivors living in boats amidst the crumbling ruins of their city. The tree is now almost dead, just one small sprig of leaves, against the bones of the crumbled city, like fossilized remains of some great beast. The people are gone and the art zooms in to show the last acorns of the dying tree. Slowly, the land returns to its original shape, the floods sink, and a new tree grows on a new curve of the river, ready to welcome new children to its home.

Becker's art is intricate, but not overly detailed; it would be easily shared with a large group or classroom, without missing any fine details. Careful readers will want to examine it over and over, to note the changes through the years and seasons, but it works just as well if you take a step back and consider the whole. It's not a simple analogy of human civilization; there are nuances in the choices and changes made throughout the book and it provides a rich field of speculation for readers to discuss how we change and adapt nature, how human civilization has changed nature throughout history, and what our own future might be.

Verdict: Even the darkest pictures are not so grim that this could not be shared with a young audience, encouraging them to create their own stories to accompany the wordless spreads. Older readers are more likely to draw parallels to the current crisis they are living with in their own environment, and in addition to being a beautiful piece of art, this book will engender lively discussions for students of all ages.

ISBN: 9781536223293; Published March 2023 by Candlewick; Review copy provided by publisher; Donated to the library