Atwood's first children's book.

Quite charming. I would have been tickled by the thought of living in a tree when I was small. ( )

Never mind that it's Atwood, that it's hand-lettered, that it's Canadian... is it a good story? Yes! A little absurd, but not so much as very popular [a:Edward Lear|142|Edward Lear|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1209058926p2/142.jpg]. Heartwarming, with simple words & rhythms, honest plot and authentic characters. My only question is - shouldn't the beavers have paddle tails, instead of furred? Now I want to sit in a tree with a best friend and some tea. ( )

My son felt that it sometimes didn't make sense because they wanted to go down when they couldn't and then up when they couldn't. I ended up explaining to him the saying that "the grass is always greener." But the children solved their problem in the end. ( )

Atwood says herself in the introduction that the book is fairly primitive. It's printed only in two colors (and a mix of the two), and she hand lettered it herself. It's a far cry from the super slick glossy kids books of today, which is a value for children to see in itself. It also has a really lovely unusual cadence and structure, which flows kind of beautifully when read aloud. I just find it a little off-putting on some level than I can't put my finger on though. ( )

Atwood's rhythm and rhyme patterns aren't run of the mill, so this has a nicely different flavour at storytime. The words themselves are formatted to suggest certain types of emphasis for reading out loud, changing your performance from your usual bedtime drone. Daniel loved this one from day one. ( )