The Wind and the Trees by Todd Stewart is a profound story about the circle of life and bestowing the ultimate gifts of love and wisdom.

The book opens with a newly sprouted, barely visible tree on the verso page saying hello to a fully grown tree on the recto page. As the baby tree matures, the older tree guides it and provides wisdom about navigating trials like the wind. The older tree remains positive, though, encouraging the smaller tree to embrace changes that time brings. As the new tree thrives, readers watch the elder tree lose leaves and ultimately collapse during series of wordless spreads depicting a severe storm. But even a downed tree has a purpose, and with the deceased tree’s words carried close by the wind, its seeds are scattered and a new tree begins to grow, starting the cycle once again.

The silk-screened illustrations are bright and bold, and Stewart has ample opportunity to use every color on the spectrum to represent a variety of conditions (sunrises, sunsets, night skies, clear skies, storms…). Given that readers are literally experiencing the same point of view over and over again for twenty spreads is astounding because every page turn reveals a new breath-taking scene doused in a unique emotion and color scheme. That said, there is definitely a feeling of coming full circle with a golden sunrise at the start of the book and golden sunset at the end! 

The Wind and the Trees published from Owlkids earlier this year.

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