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The Last Tree

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'Shows how much a simple story can convey.' —Nicolette Jones, The Sunday Times

From the author of the multi-award shortlisted The King Who Banned the Dark comes a new tale about community and our relationship with the environment and nature.

Once upon a time a group of friends were seeking a place to call home. The desert was too hot, the valley was too wet and the mountain was too windy.

Then they found the forest. It was perfect. The leaves gave shelter from the sun and rain, and a gentle breeze wound through the branches.

But the friends soon wanted to build shelters. The shelters became houses, then the houses got bigger. All too soon they wanted to control the environment and built a huge wooden wall around the community.

As they cut down the trees, the forest becomes thinner, until there is just one last tree standing.

It is down to the children to find a solution.

32 pages, Paperback

Published February 6, 2020

1 person is currently reading
125 people want to read

About the author

Emily Haworth-Booth

11 books19 followers
London-born Emily Haworth-Booth is an award-winning author, illustrator and educator who teaches at the Royal Drawing School in London.

Alongside her children’s picture books, Emily is currently working on a long-form graphic memoir for adults. Her short comics have previously appeared in print in the Observer and Vogue and her first children’s book, The King Who Banned the Dark, was shortlisted for numerous awards including the Klaus Flugge Prize and IBW Book
Awards
.

Along with her sister, Alice Haworth-Booth, she is an activist with Extinction Rebellion. The sisters are currently collaborating on Protest!, an illustrated history of peaceful protests from around the world – from 1170 BCE to the present day – which will be published by Pavilion Children's Books in spring 2021.

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Displaying 1 - 30 of 41 reviews
Profile Image for Hákon Gunnarsson.
Author 29 books162 followers
January 10, 2022
A group of people, looking for a new home, traveled far until they found a forest to live in. It was perfect, but not quite, so they started to make their environment better. Or did they?

A beautiful children's fable about the environment. One could point out that it lacks realism, but I won't. The over-all meaning of it is so accurate in my view, and the illustrations are good.
Profile Image for Mirai.
540 reviews128 followers
April 27, 2021
"...แต่ต้นไม้ต้นสุดท้ายยังยืนต้นอยู่"

เรื่องราวของผองเพื่อนกลุ่มหนึ่งที่เดินทางเพื่อหาที่อยู่อาศัยร่วมกัน จนได้พบป่าแห่งหนึ่ง พวกเขาตัดสินใจจะอยู่ที่นั่น ทุกคนจึงเริ่มตัดต้นไม้รอบๆ มาสร้างถิ่นฐานของตน จนเหลือต้นไม้อยู่เพียงต้นเดียว ซึ่งเป็นต้นไม้ต้นสุดท้าย

เป็นผลงานของ Emily Haworth-Booth ผู้เขียน "พระราชาผู้สั่งห้ามความมืด" ค่ะ
แต่เล่มนี้เป็นปกอ่อนนะคะ หน้าปกตรงใบไม้นี่พอโดนแสงแล้วสะท้อนวิบวับๆ เลยค่ะ 5555

เนื้อเรื่องรอบนี้เกี่ยวกับความสัมพันธ์ระหว่างมนุษย์กับธรรมชาติ และความสัมพันธ์ของมนุษย์ด้วยกันเอง อ่านเล่มนี้แล้วมันไม่ได้ให้ความสนุกเร้าใจหรอก แต่จะเป็นแนวอ่านแล้วได้ข้อคิดแง่คิดมากกว่า

มนุษย์เป็นสิ่งมีชีวิตที่ถือกำเนิดขึ้นท่ามกลางธรรมชาติที่กว้างใหญ่ และด้วยความที่มนุษย์เป็นสัตว์สังคม จึงต้องพึ่งพาอาศัยซึ่งกันและกัน เหมือนในเรื่องที่ "ผองเพื่อน" ทั้งหลายเกาะกลุ่มกันแน่นและชักชวนกันตามหาสถานที่เหมาะๆ เพื่อสร้างบ้านเรือนอยู่อาศัยกัน จนกระทั่งไปเจอป่าแห่งหนึ่งที่เต็มไปด้วยต้นไม้สูงใหญ่ จึงตกลงปลงใจจะตั้งถิ่นฐานที่นี่

ในเริ่มแรกทุกคนก็ดูร่วมมือร่วมใจเพื่อสร้างอาณาเขตพักอาศัยของตัวเองอยู่หรอก แต่พอนานวันเข้า พอทุกอย่างเริ่มลงตัว ไร้อุปสรรคในการดำรงชีวิต ก็ต่างแยกย้ายกันอยู่แต่กับในครอบครัวของตัวเอง เกิดการสร้าง "กำแพง" ขึ้นมาขวางกั้น เหมือนปิดตายความสัมพันธ์ระหว่างตัวเองกับคนอื่น คงเหลือแต่ความสัมพันธ์แต่คนในครอบครัวเท่านั้น จนเริ่มบาดหมางกันเอง และเริ่มเกิดการแย่งชิง "ต้นไม้ต้นสุดท้าย" ขึ้นมา...

สรุปคือ ยังคงประทับใจกับเนื้อเรื่องอยู่ดี แม้เล่มนี้จะเน้นหนักไปทางการตีความและให้แง่คิดมากกว่าเน้นเอาสนุกเร้าใจเหมือนเล่มก่อนหน้า ชอบความหมายแฝงที่สอดแทรกอยู่ในเนื้อเรื่อง ชอบการลงสีของผู้เขียนที่พยายามสื่อความหมายอะไรบางอย่าง ชอบการให้ความสำคัญทั้งกับธรรมชาติและมนุษย์ด้วยกันเอง :)
17 reviews1 follower
November 6, 2020
Lovely book!! Gives great hope for future generations saving the world and undoing the mistakes from the past.
Profile Image for Mathew.
1,560 reviews215 followers
October 26, 2020
In her second picturebook, following hot on the heels of the excellent The King Who Banned the Dark, The Last Tree sees Emily Haworth-Booth shift from the politics of people to the politics of the land. It tells, through a traditional tale narrative, of a ‘group of friends’ who seek to find a place to live that is not too hot, too wet or too windy. In their search for shelter they arrive upon a forest. At first they are quick to notice that this new environment is perfectly cool, perfectly dry and perfectly calm but when winter arrives and the trees lose their leaves things change. (full review here)
Profile Image for K.L. Bernard.
Author 1 book22 followers
April 4, 2021
A group of families and friends traveled from a hot land to a land that was lush and greend and filled with trees. When winter arrived they chopped trees and built houses. When spring came the winds whipped through and they decided to chop trees to build a wall to protect them from the gusts. As a result there was no play or happy times, only the wall. The families that were friends became distant and unhappy. The children would sneak out beyond the wall and play and watch over the last tree. They gathered its seeds and planted more trees. Slowly the children began to break down the wall. What do you think the families and friends discovered?

This delightful story shares the importance of family, friendship and the importance of trees to a community. Young readers will find the stories simple black and white illustrations sprinkled with green enlightening. Simple sentence structure makes this story easy to navigate for beginners. Parents and teachers can use this tool to teach preservation, planting and play.
Profile Image for Lauren Drake.
252 reviews5 followers
November 15, 2020
A great book about the environment and our relationship with it. This book also shows how we cannot underestimate children and their determination. I think that this book could be a fantastic way to inspire the future generation to look after the environment - as a reader it gives me great hope!
At the beginning of this book, i was reminded of goldilocks and the three bears as they couldn't find something that was 'just right'.
This book has lots of cross-curricular opportunities and i would definitely recommend its use in school, especially in ks2 where i believe it would be more accessible.
644 reviews6 followers
November 5, 2020
A great book about the environment and the need to protect trees, showing the power young children will have. The book shows that humans need to respect the environment and look after trees in order to live successfully in a sustainable world. The layout of the text on some pages is creative and intertwines with the illustrations beautifully. A fantastic picture book for KS2 children with many cross-curricular links, particularly with science and geography.
86 reviews3 followers
November 5, 2020
Brilliant book for teaching children that they can change the world! The beginning reminded me a little of Goldilocks and the three bears- choosing an environment that is perfect conditions. Focus on the trees and the environment can easily link cross curricular to science and seasons.
Profile Image for Adele.
8 reviews9 followers
October 11, 2025
بهترین کتاب کودکی که اخیرا خوندم 😭😭😭😭😭
Profile Image for Annabel Peet.
121 reviews2 followers
November 1, 2022
Such a beautifully written book and lovely illustration. The message is so important as well - and children being the heroes who join together in their efforts to save the last tree seems particularly apt with the way the world is! Commenting on the greed and destruction of humans as well as the importance of nature, this book is definitely a must-read.
Profile Image for Elizabeth Hobbs Voss.
12 reviews4 followers
March 7, 2021
“The Last Tree” is an ecological fable for children. The story begins when a group of friends look for a place to live and settle in a forest.
They’re happy playing among the trees and sleeping on the mossy ground until winter comes. They cut down branches for firewood.
They need more protection from the weather so they chop down trees to build shelters. When their shelters aren’t warm enough, they chop down more trees to build cabins.
“Soon it seemed the more wood they took, the more they needed to take,” writes Haworth-Booth.
When summer returned, the sun was hot but there weren’t enough trees for shade. The people cut down more branches to make porches.
When the fall winds came, there were no trees to stop it. The people decided to cut down the rest of the trees and build a wall. They left one scrawny tree standing because they thought it was worthless.
With nothing to look at but a wall, the villagers changed. They forgot their games and songs, and became cold and hard. They became suspicious of one another.
All the parents asked their children to cut down the last scrawny tree before anyone else could.
But when the children crept out beyond the wall and found one another by the little tree, they laughed and played. They tended the tree, and each day it grew taller and prouder.
The children talked to their parents about the tree and how it made them feel, but their parents wouldn’t listen. To satisfy their parents’ desire for more wood, the children secretly cut down boards from the wall and brought them to their parents.
They boarded up their windows and built fences, but when the wind rushed into the village, the people ran outside and saw that in spite of all their new wood, the last tree still stood.
When they heard their children playing by the tree and saw how the cool wind twisted gently though the tree’s branches, they remembered how things used to be. Suddenly, they understood what they had done wrong and decided to try to begin again.
They took the wall down, planted seeds and tended the saplings. They talked and sang, and as their children grew, a new forest grew with them.
The story ends, “And the last tree became the first.”
The simple brown, green, and blue drawings complement the story, and give it an old fashioned, classic feel.
Profile Image for Stacie.
1,876 reviews116 followers
March 22, 2021
A group of friends finds a lovely forest to make their homes. The children played among the trees and slept on the forest floor. But, when the weather changed, the friends needed firewood. Then because they needed firewood, there was more space for the wind and rain and snow to come in. So, then they used more wood to make shelters and finally more wood to make cabins. Eventually, all that was left was one tiny, little tree.

This story reminded me a bit of THE LORAX in which greed takes over and there are no trees left in the town of Thneedville. In this new village, there are no trees left, but one lonely, little tree that no one thinks is worth anything until the parents in the village decide they still need more wood and send the children out to cut it down and the children refuse, instead bringing the wood from the fenced wall.

This book teaches kids about the importance of trees and the purpose of them, the difference between needs and wants, and how to care for our environment. At the end of the story, the villagers join together to replant the trees in their village and come back together as a community.

The illustrations are simple pencil and colored pencil drawings but offer enough for children to understand the meaning behind the message of the story. This type of illustration gives the book a classic, older book feel. I do think this story is better for elementary-aged kids even though it is a picture book.
Profile Image for Sareen.
50 reviews
November 19, 2020
This is a wonderful story of friendship and the need for us all to take care of our environment.

The last tree is beautifully illustrated and the text flows like a babbling brook carrying you along it’s course, down waterfalls and out to the big wide sea of life.

A group of friends live happily in the forest until they decide to begin cutting down the trees to build homes and, ultimately, a huge wall. Then, living in the shadow of the wall, their friendship begins to fall apart. Change only happens when their children discover the last living tree and the joy of playing beside it. They decide to take matters into their own hands and ultimately help the adults realise that by protecting their environment they'll look after their community too.

This book would be wonderful for generating discussion on the themes of taking care of our environment, working together, community and friendship. It also highlights the power children can have and use when they are given the opportunity to do so.

A fantastic resource for exploring this theme at home and for supporting work in the upper stages of primary school.
Profile Image for Alice Bennett.
465 reviews12 followers
November 6, 2020
This is my new favourite picture book due to the current themes covered and clever storytelling from Booth. A group of friends are searching for a new place to build their homes and settle upon a forest, bursting with trees and potential. Without realising the adults slowly begin cutting down more and more trees until there are hardly any left and it is left to the children to rise up and take charge by saving the last tree that remains outside of the walls of the society!

I just love how the characters are positioned in the book to show the reader how the children are oppressed by the adults and never get the opportunity to actively voice their thoughts; instead they are forced to take silent action. I see the text as a message for the children of the world and how it is up to their generation to do something about climate change and deforestation. It would be a very powerful book for children of every age to read.
Profile Image for Lilyn George.
Author 3 books2 followers
March 23, 2021
The Last Tree is not particularly colorful or attention-getting with its illustrations, but somehow it managed to ensnare my child and I all the same. The tale is a message of connecting with nature, of protecting it, of how we have to be careful not to take too much and what the consequences of doing so can be. Heavy stuff for the age range this is aimed at, to be honest, and it'll probably be a few years before they actually grasp it, but we still fully support the buying and reading of this book. It calmly states its message and has a rewarding ending, and even if young readers don't get it immediately, it's a book that will stick around on the shelves that they will keep coming back to.

Disclaimer: We received a copy of this book from the publicist for review consideration.
Profile Image for FM Family.
1,067 reviews12 followers
November 10, 2021
This was a good one but has that energy of a moralistic tale that is kind of familiar but kind of creepy/unsettling. I liked it but it gave me a bit of a similar vibe to the song "one tin soldier". Neat story that does well to open up themes around people trying to have dominion over nature, children's ability to see what really matters, and natures resilience. My 4 year old really enjoyed it, which I found surprising, I didn't know if it would give her the same weird vibe it gave me...maybe because she hasn't heard "one tin soldier" yet?
Profile Image for Nancy.
1,454 reviews35 followers
December 23, 2023
I saw something about a new book called The Last Tree: A Seed of Hope by Luke Adam Hawker. It’s not available at my library. That sparked something in me to check out all the other Last Tree books at the library 😂

There's definitely a message here, but it is shown really well instead of dictating thought through the words. Don't get me wrong; the author has a message to deliver and does so pointedly. I just didn't feel 'preached' to, if that makes sense.

I love how the story comes full circle.

I enjoyed the illustrations as they were a good fit for the story.
Profile Image for Rebecca R.
1,436 reviews33 followers
May 1, 2021
When the people first discover the forest, it is an ideal place to live. But as they start cutting down the trees to build their homes and construct walls around their village, the people also create barriers in their hearts. When the children discover the last tree, it helps them to remember why the forest was so important in the first place.

'The Last Tree' is a beautiful and poignant environmental fable about our relationship to the natural world.
Profile Image for Anne.
647 reviews10 followers
June 17, 2020
From the author of "The King who banned the dark" comes another wonderful picture book about consequences and hope. This time the focus is on our relationship with the environment and how it impacts on our relationships with each other. Seemingly simplistic illustrations invite the reader in but on further inspection there is a sophistication to them. Recommended.
Profile Image for Sophie Hearn.
98 reviews2 followers
May 3, 2022
A very clever little story that talks simply about the impact of deforestation but in a very accessible way!
It provides a great opportunity for children to explore the importance of trees, how they grow, why they’re beneficial to human nature and what we can do to protect them and ensure they stay
Profile Image for Charlotte Coles.
20 reviews1 follower
February 17, 2023
This has a gorgeous illustration that ties well with the story. With the humans using the trees for mass destruction building more and more, the story follows the children of the humans doing the damage and them fighting to save the trees. Lovely book and a must-read and deforestation topic/environmental and what we can do to save our earth.
Profile Image for Amy Aldridge.
135 reviews2 followers
November 5, 2020
I just love this book! The potential it has for cross-curricular learning is impressive. As well as it’s link to real-world, incredibly important, topical issues. A book I would love to use with a class, I think this would be a book that could easily be adapted to use in a wide age range.
Profile Image for Mrs Mommy Booknerd http://mrsmommybooknerd.blogspot.com.
2,204 reviews94 followers
March 5, 2021
REVIEW: In loved this book so much. It was one of those books that tugs at the heart and fires up your spirit. It is a book about caring, being hopeful and doing what you think is right. It is about the environment and how we interact with it. Such a beautiful book with a big lesson.
Profile Image for Ashley.
1,562 reviews25 followers
July 1, 2021
Really great story with a moral lesson about living in harmony with nature and each other. It reads like an allegory and could be used to prompt discussions about how to survive without taking so many resources that we won't be able to survive in the future.

For inquisitive children 5+.
Profile Image for Louise Goddard.
102 reviews1 follower
November 5, 2020
A stunning book about our relationship with the environment and how children should never be underestimated. Young people are going to save the world one day!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 41 reviews

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