SOLVED. Children's picture book about magic tree. [s]

[Joss]

I read this as a child, so probably early 80s, it was probably published before that though, maybe 70s. What I remember is a boy visiting a lone tree, possibly on a hill top, and the tree imparting wisdom of some sort. Then there was something to do with pollution, I remember a picture of the tree surrounded by smog and possibly coughing and choking, and the boy having to do something to help.
I remember the pictures being quite large and taking up a fair bit of the pages.

It's definitely not the Giving Tree, the tree in my memory was male, and a bit grumpy!

[Tab]

Dr. Seuess's The Lorax fits a bit.

Do you remember how the illustrations look? Were they bright, muted, realistic, cartoony, etc?

[Joss]

I actually thought the Lorax was more recent, but turns out it's from 1971! Sadly, it's not that one - I don't remember any characters other than the tree and the boy (and maybe the boy's father?) and I don't think the story was in rhyme. The illustrations were cartoony (ish) but not as bright as Dr Seuss. The tree definitely had a face and expressions though.

I'm fairly certain the title contained the word 'tree' ... when I saw the title 'the giving tree' I thought that was it, but it's not the right story... I just feel like the title may be similar - I've googled 'wishing tree', 'wise tree' etc etc with no luck.

[bookel]

Go to worldcat.org advanced search. Tree in title. Your year range. Juvenile fiction book English. Browse. Google images for covers.

[Joss]

Thanks for that, I've just gone through about 20 pages but still no luck - maybe it didn't have 'tree' in the title after all.

[bookel]

Try lowering year range to 1950. Browse again.

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

Joss, are you still looking for this?

[Joss]

Yes, still looking! I have such a clear image of the pictures in my mind, but just can't recall the title!

[༺Kiki༻]

Originally published in 1990, so a bit later, but could it be Just a Dream?

There are smokestacks and the MC is coughing from the pollution.

[Joss]

Thanks, but in 1990 I was 12 - I read the book I'm looking for in the early 80s.
For reference though, the pictures in the book I'm looking for were definitely brighter than those, and I pretty sure they were on every page, and took up more of the page. There wouldn't have been as much writing, it was a book for younger readers. It's the tree I remember coughing from the pollution.

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

Still looking?

[Joss]

Afraid so!

[Adele]

There's The Boy, the Bird and the Tree by Usula Furst. I couldn't find it on goodreads, but you can see a picture here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Boy-Bird-Tre...

[Michele]

The Boy, The Bird, and the Tree for the click.

[Joss]

Right time period, but it's not that one. The tree doesn't travel, and there's no bird character. Thanks though!

[Joss]

Bizarrely, I've found it. Searching worldcat again and another book rang a bell - Learning Tree and the Otter. I had no idea my book was part of a series, the one I was looking for was "Learning Tree and the Smoky Day"
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Learning-Tre...

[Rosa]

Hurrah! I'm very glad you found it. Learning Tree and the Smoky Day for the link.

[Kris]

Glad you found your book, Joss. Here's the Goodreads link - Learning Tree and the Smoky Day by Ian Page.

[Joss]

I was the one who added it ;-)