In the Piney Woods

by Roni Schotter, Kimberly Bulcken Root (Illustrator)

Nothing lasts forever - in families or in the piney woods
Long before Ella was born, her grandpa, "strong and straight and singing," built a little house at the edge of the piney woods. Once this house was roomy. Now it's packed tight with Ella, and her family, and Grandpa, old now - his body "bent like the branches of the low pines." Ella loves the secrets that Grandpa shows her in the woods: how the sticky cones of the dwarf pitch pines stay locked up tight, "waiting," as Grandpa tells her, for the heat from a fire that will allow them to open and release their seeds. "Everything has its time," says Grandpa.
This spirited picture book, with evocative watercolors that capture the depth of feeling between Ella and Grandpa, tells a powerful story that is as much a celebration of life as it is an honest, reassuring book about aging and death.

Genres: Picture Books, Nature

Hardcover

Published March 6, 2003

Reviews

[Debrarian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ella describes her wonderful relationship with her grandfather in the last year of his life. (Simultaneously, her older sister's pregnancy progresses.) Poignantly and successfully follows the metaphor of the pines in the nearby woods, whose seeds can only grow when a fire makes room for them by taking out the old growth and cracking open the cones.

[Jackie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Learning about death and regrowth of the forest from her grandfather, Ella is saddened by the death of her best friend. Yet, she knows grandpa would tell her that everything has their time. Although grief has engulfed her, she is heartened by the fact that her grandfather gave her many memories to remember him.

[Amber · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very sad story of a girl and her aging grandfather. They share walks and teachings, and then he dies. Ella learns that life goes on, not only for the pine cones but for people as well.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lovely children's book about aging and new life.