I picked up A Tree is Nice as a follow-up to my recent discussion of The Happy Day. Both books are mid-20th century picture books, and both were honored with awards: The Happy Day was a Caldecott Honor book in 1950, while A Tree is Nice came out in 1956, and won the Caldecott Medal in 1957. Both emphasize a connection with nature. Both were written by women (Krauss for The Happy Day, and Janice May Udry for A Tree is Nice), and both were illustrated by Marc Simont. (At last! A connection!)
Simont is the reason I sought this book out, as I recently saw his illustration praised. And I admit, in both books his work is technically accomplished. However, where the images in The Happy Day were full of energy and showed Simont had a great grasp on design, the illustrations didn’t work as well for me. To be specific, some of them were striking, with good use of line and an ability to capture a tree as a place and an entity, still and in motion. Others, though, were simpler, closer to cartoons.
Udry’s title implies the book’s content: the entire book is statements about why trees are good. Sometimes they fit well with the images, and rise to the level of imagistic poetry. Other lines seem a bit flat. There is no plot and no conflict: looking to see what people, especially kids, is what kept me going through the book.
To be honest, then, I found this book a bit flat. Good, but I’m missing what made this the best picture book of the year.
