Chestnut Dreams

"Author/illustrator Halina Below does a lovely job with this story, which serves a dual purpose. It is a charming story about a young girl waiting for chestnuts to fall. However, this story also serves as a useful tool to demonstrate to younger children how a tree grows. ...This book also includes a Did You Know? Section about Horse Chestnuts, a diagram of the life cycle of a Horse Chestnut tree, and a glossary. A great addition to classroom and library nature collections. This combination of lovely detailed illustrations and a charming story is too tempting to pass up. ...Highly recommended." (CM magazine) "In this beautifully illustrated story, Anya waits impatiently for the chestnuts to fall after she and her grandmother watch the blossoms bloom and change over the long summer...Readers will enjoy her delight in sorting them and then planting them in her backyard...This book is very good for curriculum use about plants and growing things." (Shirley Lewis, Resource Links) "A quiet book about the blossoming of a Horse Chestnut tree in the park. Anya and her grandmother observe the many changes in the tree from season to season. As nuts begin to fall, the child plants a few of them in her yard ... watercolor artwork, displaying various shades of green, shows the girl and her grandmother enjoying the outdoors. The book concludes with a "Did You Know?" section that offers bulleted facts and a pictorial rendition of the life cycle of the tree. Below's story will supplement Trish Cooke's The Grandad Tree, which has a more substantial plot but lacks additional scientific information." (School Library Journal)