Irene's Wish

by Jerdine Nolen, Peter H. Reynolds (Illustrations)

A little girl's wish to spend more time with her father comes true when he swallows some seeds and turns into a tree.

Genres: Picture Books, Family, Fantasy, Childrens, Fiction, Nature, African American

32 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 2003

Reviews

[Esther Soberanis]

Text-to-World Connection

Irene's Wish by Jerdine Nolen is a great multicultural picture book. I can see how many children around the world today can relate to this book. Many families in the world from all different cultures that one of their parents don't get to spend time with their kids. Many of them probably wish like Irene did. unlike Irene, her wish came true in a unique way. Children in the real world it's just a wish.

[Andra Land · Rating 5 out of 5]

Irene's Wish is about a little girl named Irene who grew with a loving family and very busy dad, so busy that she made a wish to keep him to her and her family. The wish did not turn out like she imagined because her papa turned into a tree after swallowing a cup full of seeds, and he garnered more attention than before. She did not like that way that her wish turned out so she unwished it so that things can return back to almost normal.

The overall theme of this book is anything is possible, so never forget that.

The book is an interesting tale and the pictures are amazing, it was fun to follow along with the story and see the images because they were so realistic. The book implemented a common story that parents tell their kids which is: don't swallow the seeds because the plant will grow inside you, and that gave me a sense of comfort. The book is very optimistic throughout and Irene never lost faith and her dad always remained positive.

I would recommend the book for planting seeds and lessons that promote imagination so the kids can let their minds run free. It will be used primarily for elementary students since the characters are in elementary as well. It is also great to add to the classroom library and provides a family that is underrepresented in literature.

[Shayla · Rating 4 out of 5]

Genre: Fantasy Fiction, the dad turned into a tree

Audience: Primary and Intermediate, kids in early childhood would enjoy this story, kids in middle childhood would likely have a better understanding of the meaning of the story

Text to Text: Christopher the choo choo train. In both books the main character makes a wish and then wish they hadn't wished it.

Text to World: The message of the story is to be careful what you wish for and be ready for it to come true. This is great advice .

Text to Self: My dad is a truck driver, he used to be mover and would be out of town most of the time. I used to always wish that he would have a job closer to home, well just a few months ago he got a more local job, but I still hardly ever get to see him because he works nights and I'm busy during the day.

[Kylie Coon · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book gave me mixed feelings. I love how it shows the importance of family, and loving your family, neighbors, etc. However, I feel the way it was presented was weird for a younger audience. In some ways, I can see how this might scare off young readers. The book is weird, but I think it would be better intended for older readers. The storyline of the book is fascinating and would be a great addition to a classroom library, however, I think this book would be better for more mature audiences.

[Brittany · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has potential, but parts seemed to be missing as if someone had edited it without rereading it to see if the story still made sense. For example, it says Irene's dad "gulped... every last one of those seeds we had hidden in that cup" without having mentioned how or why their secret seed collection ended up in the cup she was using to serve iced tea to her dad, or whether it was intentional that she poisoned him with it.

[Macie Estes · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story did a good job at emphasizing the importance of family and love, specifically the importance of spending quality time together as a family. The imagery of this book would be one well loved by children, and the representation of a minority family makes it valuable to have in a classroom as well.

[Jo Oehrlein · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tall-tale style story of a girl who wishes that her father would be home more.
He accidentally drinks seeds and turns into a tree.
The family spends time with him.
The daughter then wishes for him to be himself again and it happens overnight.

[Cheryl · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn’t really like it. I couldn’t tell if this was supposed to help children understand death, which at first made sense.. until the father came back? I don’t know. The story wasn’t so good.

[Nazneen Akbari · Rating 1 out of 5]

Weird, bizarre

[Barbara Lovejoy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun story. The illustrations by AG Ford are great.

[Viviana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Underrated

[Dione Basseri · Rating 4 out of 5]

A charming story, though do be careful, because it could be somewhat frightening to little kids. And it certainly perpetuates the "swallow a seed, grow a plant inside" superstition common among little ones. But if they can get past that, it's a visually appealing piece, which is perfect for an afternoon read.

Irene's father is a master gardener, but sometimes his growing powers can get out of hand. When he accidentally drinks a glass full of seeds, he transforms into a tree. At first, it's interesting, but as time passes, and he becomes more wooden and unable to interact with his family, Irene grows scared, and wishes she had her father back to normal.

It all has a happy ending, in line with the magical realism theme. So, hopefully your kids will be soothed, rather than frightened. Perhaps use this for class storytime, and lead into a unit on growing plants from seeds. Just make sure no one swallows them!

[Zandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyable, yet creepy, with beautifully vibrant illustrations.

At the core of this fable is love. Irene wants to spend more time with her father, who is always busy helping other people make their plants grow. One day, while he was busy toiling in his garden, Irene and her brother brought their father a refreshing glass of ice tea. However, they picked the wrong glass. The glass they gave to their father contained their secret stash of seeds they were saving for the seed spitting contest. Pretty soon it becomes very evident that the seeds were germinating in their fathers belly and he became a tree. Irene was torn because she absolutely enjoyed spending more time with her father. She wanted her papa back the way he used to be, but she did not want the things at home back to "normal." She unwished her wish and her family grew closer because of it.

[Chelsea DiCicco · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jerdine, your book is so wonderful! It is everything a kids book should be. It challenges the imagination of the reader and makes it fun and interesting. Believing in the impossible and pushing the boundaries of what you can and cannot do. I love it!

AG Ford, your illustrations are unbelievable BECAUSE... they make the unbelievable SO believable! Such terrific work! We just love it!

We recently started a show, KIDS BOOK WEEKLY on YouTube and chose to review and promote your wonderful book,'Irene's Wish.' We hope you enjoy the video!

https://youtu.be/EkDx1WwqFys

[Kelsey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Age: Kindergarten-2nd grade

An imaginative tale about a father that turns into a tree after swallowing some seeds and a family's love for their father, be he tree or man. Irene's wish for her papa to stay home more often is stated once so pay attention (says the woman that didn't)! Although a child's imagination could run with the tale, I was a little weirded out when tree branches started sprouting from his head.

[Jonnathan Ortiz · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is about a little girl who wants her father to be home more, so one day when she makes a wish about her father, he begins to turn into a tree!
This would be a good book to read to the class and have a discussion about how sometimes when we wish something, it might not come true, or even yet, to be carful what you wish for. Sometimes we want something in life and it does not even end up working out the way we wanted. This could be a book used in a lesson.

[Becket · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's cool to see a picture book about a contemporary rural African American family, and the illustrations are vibrant and make good use of understated whimsy. However, the storytelling style felt too straightforward for the magical realist content. I don't know if kids will be bothered by it or not, but for me, it was an off note.

[Jacob Burton · Rating 4 out of 5]

An example of fantasy, this story was published in 2014. The story involves a young girl, and one day she accidentally gives her father tea with tree seeds in it. Well, her father grows into a tree, and there has to be a way for her to turn him back before winter really sets in. I think that children will really enjoy this book and the pictures.

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not what I was expecting... Overall I liked the story but I thought it was a weird way for the little girl's wish of more time with her father to come true (temporarily). It was a little creepy but at least he didn't die from being turned into a tree and almost freezing to death during winter. The illustrations were very nice. I won't be reading this one to my children again.

[Alesha · Rating 1 out of 5]

I couldn't finish this book because the illustrations began to creep me out in the same way that David Shannon's illustration in A Bad Case of the Stripes creep me out.

I wanted to love it. :/

[Miss Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

too long for storytime but good for longer kids who can sit though it about a little girl whose father is great with seeds. She makes a wish and accidently feeds seeds to her father who turns into a tree.

[Yoo Kyung Sung · Rating 3 out of 5]

Father's being significant family member is expressed through cross-genre styles that
realistic fiction delivers a message to think of meaning of love of a family through fantasy elements.
Irene's father is the center in his dauter's heart like "the tree".

[Edward Sullivan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A charming, fanciful family story beautifully complemented with A.G. Ford's vivid, vibrant illustrations.

[Rebecca Saxon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautifully illustrated story about family, wishes, and a magical tree.

[Sarah Threlkeld · Rating 3 out of 5]

A clever story that would do well as a read aloud for a unit on plants and how they grow. The book is a tad text heavy, so younger kids might lose interest, but the pictures are lovely.

[Thuy · Rating 4 out of 5]

believe in the possibilties :)

[Jacqui · Rating 2 out of 5]

Seeds like wishes have possibilities.

[Renae Phillips · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little girl accidentally feeds her father seeds from her fruit. He has a gift for growing things and winds up turning in to a tree. This would be a great book to add to a classroom library. It's absolutely adorable and reinforces that it's good to respect parents.

6+1 Traits:
Word Choice
Sentence Fluency
Idea

Accelerated Readers: 2.0
Lexile: AD700L

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Too depressing for me