The girl who talked to trees by Natasha Farrant illustrated by Lydia Corry

Olive lives in a large house with extensive gardens and grounds. She is from a privileged family and we know this because her father is called Sir Sydney and her mother is Lady Josephine. Olive is a loner. She is really only truly happy when she is left alone to wander around their huge estate. Olive especially loves all the trees in their garden and her very special friend is the old oak tree. 

One morning at breakfast her father declares he has a new idea. He will build a summerhouse for parties and picnics. That could be a good idea but his plan is to build this in the meadow and that will mean he will cut down Olive's precious oak tree - a tree that is her one true friend. Olive is so upset but her father says he will save the tree if she can think of "something more impressive that my summerhouse."

Olive has only seven hours to achieve this. She heads outside to her oak tree and while she lies among the roots she falls asleep and when she wakes from her deep sleep, the most amazing adventure begins. Olive meets seven different trees - one for each hour. She listens to their stories and these stories, in turn, give her wondrous tales to tell her father at the end of the day.

"The afternoon light mellowed, the shadows of the great elm and tulip tree stretched across the lawn. The air grew colder. The butler bought snacks and drinks. The under-butler bought blankets. The maid bought candles. Eventually they ran out of things to bring but stayed to listen anyway, because the Girl Who Talked to Trees was telling the most incredible, most wild, most wonderful stories."

The trees in this book may not be readily familiar to Australian children but they are the trees we all encounter in stories - oak, linden, alder (a type of birch), London plane tree, apple tree, tulip tree, and box. The tree I had not heard of is the tulip tree. It is a type of poplar. Between each chapter (or tree tale) there is a helpful double page with a brief set of facts about each type of tree. My favourite story is the one told by the London Plane tree. 

Image source: Dedham Vale tree surgery

I picked this book up in a city book store based almost solely on the cover and internal colour illustrations. I love the way the title is presented in embossed gold.  Last night I read the whole book in one sitting - yes it is that good! There are seven chapters and seven stories in this book - one for each night of the week perhaps. This book could be a beautiful gift to a child aged 7+. 

Here is a video where the illustrator talks about this book and then she paints the oak tree from her book. 

Alongside Natasha Farrant’s superb, empathetic, passionate story of nature, history, our place on the planet and the environment, are Lydia Corry’s glorious illustrations. Then again, we’re gifted information about seven trees, realising their individual strengths, horticulture and histories. Book Wagon

UK author Natasha Farrant won the Costa award for her book Voyage of the Sparrowhawk (2020) and Lyndia Corry's first book was Eight Princesses and a magic mirror (2019).