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One Million Trees: A True Story
The real-life story of a family who planted 1,000,000 trees—yes, it’s true!—to fight deforestation in British Columbia.
When Kristen Balouch was 10 years old, her parents made a surprising announcement: their whole family was going on a trip to plant trees! Kristen, her sisters, and her mom and dad—and their pet, Wonder Dog!—flew from their California home to a logging site in British Columbia. There, they joined a crew working to replant the trees that had been cut down.
In One Million Trees, Kristen reflects on the forty days they spent living in a tent, covered in mud and bug bites, working hard every day to plant a new forest. Young readers will learn a little French, practice some math skills, and learn all about how to plant a tree the right way!
The kid-friendly, engaging text is paired with bold illustrations, full of fun details and bright colors. The story ends with a modern-day look at what Kristen's family helped accomplish: a stand of huge trees growing on what used to be an empty, muddy patch of bare stumps.
An author's note shares more information on deforestation, sustainable logging practices, and the irreplaceable environmental benefit of old growth forests. . . . Plus, the amazing things even a small group of people can do when they work together.
A fun story with an important environmental message, One Million Trees is bound to inspire kids to get their hands dirty to make our planet healthy!
A School Library Journal Best Book of the Year
A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection
When Kristen Balouch was 10 years old, her parents made a surprising announcement: their whole family was going on a trip to plant trees! Kristen, her sisters, and her mom and dad—and their pet, Wonder Dog!—flew from their California home to a logging site in British Columbia. There, they joined a crew working to replant the trees that had been cut down.
In One Million Trees, Kristen reflects on the forty days they spent living in a tent, covered in mud and bug bites, working hard every day to plant a new forest. Young readers will learn a little French, practice some math skills, and learn all about how to plant a tree the right way!
The kid-friendly, engaging text is paired with bold illustrations, full of fun details and bright colors. The story ends with a modern-day look at what Kristen's family helped accomplish: a stand of huge trees growing on what used to be an empty, muddy patch of bare stumps.
An author's note shares more information on deforestation, sustainable logging practices, and the irreplaceable environmental benefit of old growth forests. . . . Plus, the amazing things even a small group of people can do when they work together.
A fun story with an important environmental message, One Million Trees is bound to inspire kids to get their hands dirty to make our planet healthy!
A School Library Journal Best Book of the Year
A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection
40 pages, Hardcover
Published March 1, 2022
2 people are currently reading
2247 people want to read
About the author
Kristen Balouch
16 books21 followersI was born in Chicago to adventurous parents. We lived all over the United States and when I was seventeen I moved to Brooklyn to attend Pratt Institute. I've been working and creating ever since. I was honored to be interviewed by Bill Harvey for his podcast: https://mailchi.mp/a9460eb824c5/harve...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews
March 31, 2022
This is a truly remarkable tale of how a family helped to plant one million trees in forty days! The author tells of her experiences with her family traveling to British Colombia, Canada to meet up with other like-minded strangers in order to reforest a part of that world where logging had clear cut trees. Throughout the book, you learn about how a camp was set up for this, what they planted, and how to plant new trees. There is an incredibly sweet ending making you feel as if you too could make a difference on an individual level to help the planet. I really enjoyed the story for what it was, but felt that there was almost too much additional information around the pages it felt distracting. The simple illustrations are lovely and the message is important for todays youth.
Find it in our SHARE Catalog today!
Ashley C. / Milton Public Library #CheckOutMPL
Find it in our SHARE Catalog today!
Ashley C. / Milton Public Library #CheckOutMPL
May 6, 2022
One day after school, Mom handed me and my sisters suitcases, and Dad handed us packing lists.
Where are we going?
North!
What about school?
Bring your books.
What about Wonder Dog?
Wonder Dog is coming.
Why are we going?
TREES.
TREES?
A simple narrative about a family who joins forces with others to plant one million trees - a part of the Canadian government's plan for sustainability in 1979.
DON'T SKIP THE AUTHOR'S NOTE. This story is beautiful but our students should know that this effort was to support a tree farm - not to reconstitute an old growth forest. In the author's note, Balouch makes this point and discusses the value of old growth forests versus tree farms - we should cut down from tree farms, not from old growth forests. ONE WISH - that Balouch had made this distinction IN the narrative and not left it for the author's note. I also wonder if families are still doing this or if Canada has sustained this movement - no note about that. So while this book is hopeful - there are some important discussions we need to have with students.
This might read aloud well - particularly the bold print (and the speech bubbles on the first page). There are a lot of additional details (e.g., there were evidently French speaking folks there and French for words like hello and fish are shared) that might confuse students during a read aloud BUT that's another reason for students to pick up the book after you read aloud to read it on their own.
WRITER'S WORKSHOP MENTOR TEXT - the layout and design might breathe new life into some of our students' narratives or energize them to write.
Where are we going?
North!
What about school?
Bring your books.
What about Wonder Dog?
Wonder Dog is coming.
Why are we going?
TREES.
TREES?
A simple narrative about a family who joins forces with others to plant one million trees - a part of the Canadian government's plan for sustainability in 1979.
DON'T SKIP THE AUTHOR'S NOTE. This story is beautiful but our students should know that this effort was to support a tree farm - not to reconstitute an old growth forest. In the author's note, Balouch makes this point and discusses the value of old growth forests versus tree farms - we should cut down from tree farms, not from old growth forests. ONE WISH - that Balouch had made this distinction IN the narrative and not left it for the author's note. I also wonder if families are still doing this or if Canada has sustained this movement - no note about that. So while this book is hopeful - there are some important discussions we need to have with students.
This might read aloud well - particularly the bold print (and the speech bubbles on the first page). There are a lot of additional details (e.g., there were evidently French speaking folks there and French for words like hello and fish are shared) that might confuse students during a read aloud BUT that's another reason for students to pick up the book after you read aloud to read it on their own.
WRITER'S WORKSHOP MENTOR TEXT - the layout and design might breathe new life into some of our students' narratives or energize them to write.
January 4, 2023
I like that there was lots of practical math woven into this book. Not sure it would be a great read aloud, but perfect for a reader who wants to explore the pages on their own.
May 24, 2023
my six year old and I liked the book although I think his attention wavered several times during the reading. There might be too many tangents and distractions and not enough core text.
Still, I enjoyed it and it’s another touching point about the importance of trees and taking care of the environment, so I’m satisfied.
Still, I enjoyed it and it’s another touching point about the importance of trees and taking care of the environment, so I’m satisfied.
December 2, 2022
This is a book to read over and over again. There is the main text, but also so much else going on in the captions and illustrations, including...MATH! The story shows what can be achieved with collaboration, and both how important it is to replant tree farms every 40 years or so, but also the importance of old growth forests that should be preserved.
April 29, 2022
This would be a great read for Earth Day or any day really when we talk about nature, the environment, and a human’s place within it all
April 19, 2022
A truly interesting reflection on time spent as a child reforesting a Canadian wilderness. The visuals are a bit busy, and French vocabulary sprinkled throughout is more distracting than helpful to the story.
April 19, 2022
This is a truly remarkable tale of how a family helped to plant one million trees in forty days! The author tells of her experiences with her family traveling to British Colombia, Canada to meet up with other like-minded strangers in order to reforest a part of that world where logging had clear cut trees. Throughout the book, you learn about how a camp was set up for this, what they planted, and how to plant new trees. There is an incredibly sweet ending making you feel as if you too could make a difference on an individual level to help the planet. I really enjoyed the story for what it was, but felt that there was almost too much additional information around the pages it felt distracting. The simple illustrations are lovely and the message is important for todays youth.
June 6, 2022
A true story that includes an environmental message, math, and french. Its alot to have in one picture book. The family enjoyed this story, though its formating is not designed to be read aloud (so much additional information: facts, french translations, etc)
April 12, 2023
Nonfiction picture book. This is based on the author's life, when the family left California to be part of a tree-planting team in Canada. For 40 days, a team of 25 people worked tirelessly to replant a clear-cut forest with new trees. The author's whole family went, with her two younger sisters staying with her mother, her mother serving as the camp cook, and the author herself joining her father to be one of the 25 planters. The book is digitally illustrated, with very fun details to look at spread throughout the pages. There is some French vocabulary, as the author was excited to learn some French from the Canadians involved. She also liked math, so there are math problems in sidebars as well.
If this book were to be read with a larger group, it might be better to leave out some of the speech bubbles or smaller print text. I think it would work better one-on-one or with a smaller group. Great to read to talk about environment and sustainability issues.
If this book were to be read with a larger group, it might be better to leave out some of the speech bubbles or smaller print text. I think it would work better one-on-one or with a smaller group. Great to read to talk about environment and sustainability issues.
June 20, 2022
As I read this story and the great adventure Kristin and her family went on when she was 10 I couldn't help wondering if parents would do something like that today or if that was just during the magical time of the 70s. Kristin came home from school one day and the family traveled from California to British Columbia to be a part of a tree-planting camp. Her mother was the cook for the group and her father helped with the planting. They were there for about a month and a half doing this wonderful ecological work and learning so much that wasn't in school books. It seemed like a great experience and I absolutely love that she went back 40 years later with her kids to see the now 40-year-old group of one million trees. This is a nice example of a memoir about a specific time in her life that could be a good mentor text.
October 30, 2022
The bold text in the story tells the author's story about traveling from California to Canada to plant trees. Her family went to plant trees in a forested area. There is smaller text all over the illustrated pages with facts and conversation. A great book for elementary audience or lesson.
Story Stretcher
page on recipe/food math
French words throughout the story
steps to plant a tree
author's note on forests & "old-growth forests"
additional activity would be creating your own picture book about a moment in your life
Reviewed from a library copy.
Story Stretcher
page on recipe/food math
French words throughout the story
steps to plant a tree
author's note on forests & "old-growth forests"
additional activity would be creating your own picture book about a moment in your life
Reviewed from a library copy.
April 18, 2023
Based on the author’s experiences, ONE MILLION TREES is about a trip to British Columbia that her family took to help plant one million trees. It is full of French words, math happening in real life, the animals of British Columbia, and, of course, information about trees. If you focused on the large text on the page, this could be used as a read aloud. I think it works better one on one or with a smaller group of kids where you can really dive into all of the content. For homeschoolers, this is also a fun example of life without traditional school.
June 7, 2022
It’s so sad to think of all the trees that take centuries to grow can be cut down for the sake of short-term profit without a thought to the carbon stores, flooding, ecosystems, and long-term environmental impact.
This is the story of the author’s family’s job replanting trees in Canada to replace the ones cut down—basically, it’s a tree farm, no net gain for the planet, but still interesting. I liked the bonus math and French lessons!
This is the story of the author’s family’s job replanting trees in Canada to replace the ones cut down—basically, it’s a tree farm, no net gain for the planet, but still interesting. I liked the bonus math and French lessons!
May 13, 2022
Timely, real, necessary, inspiring, down to earth. Kristen Balouch shares her unique childhood experience and shares the strategies about how a little girl who liked math was able to integrate her focus on numbers into the work that she was doing for the planet. Lovely and inspiring and so worth sharing.
June 4, 2023
I read this book as an adult reader for the AR Diamond Book Award. Although I enjoyed the topic (planting news trees) I just couldn't get past so much happening on each page. My child read this one with me and lost interest a few pages in due to too much happening on every page. Speech bubbles, text, math problems/facts, etc. Great topic but a jumbled layout.
December 31, 2023
Kristen along with her family and the family dog went to Canada to participate in a one million tree planting program. Along with a group of people they traveled through British Columbia into forests that had been logged and learned out to plant tree plugs. Very colorful illustrations and a great theme of restoring nature.
June 25, 2022
A girl and her family spend a summer in Vancouver helping to replenish a forest site with a million trees.
Told from a ten year old's point of view and with appropriate art, this is absolutely adorable.
Told from a ten year old's point of view and with appropriate art, this is absolutely adorable.
July 13, 2022
When she was 10 years old, the author and her family flew to British Columbia and were part of a team that planted 1 million trees. What an amazing experience! I loved this picture book of her adventures over that season and the cool information about trees and old-growth forests.
January 4, 2023
Sweet & colorful illustrations
Good for home-schoolers: intro to foreign language (French), simple math & informational about trees. I enjoyed reading the author’s note in back of book. Lucky to work in a library or I never would have found this treasure.
Good for home-schoolers: intro to foreign language (French), simple math & informational about trees. I enjoyed reading the author’s note in back of book. Lucky to work in a library or I never would have found this treasure.
February 12, 2023
A little girl recalls the time her family joined other families to replant a million trees in British Columbia in Canada in 1979 when she was 10 years old. This experience taught her that old growth forests are irreplaceable and necessary for our world.
November 4, 2023
Audiobook
Interesting story but weird to be listening to someone read a book that has descriptions of pictures one cannot see. I get audiobooks from my library and I probably would have enjoyed this more if I had read the book to my son rather than listen to it in our car with him.
Interesting story but weird to be listening to someone read a book that has descriptions of pictures one cannot see. I get audiobooks from my library and I probably would have enjoyed this more if I had read the book to my son rather than listen to it in our car with him.
April 2, 2022
Cute, fun book. I don't think the French-language aspect of the book contributed whatsoever, but the book was fun to read.
April 30, 2022
A lovely true story of family and activism.
May 24, 2022
Environment, math, French, science! A lot of text with many focuses was overwhelming as a reader.
January 11, 2023
LOVED the illustrations and such a sweet story.
January 22, 2023
An interesting account of the author’s childhood experience planting trees in California.
February 4, 2023
Too much going on to do as a readaloud, but the illustrations were fun and teach some math and French vocabulary!
February 25, 2023
I love the style of illustration. The side edges in the book are also fun for kids to read.
April 8, 2023
Told from a child's perspective of a family spending several months in Canada planting trees. Elementary and up lots of great french words as well.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews