A Tree for Peter

Rating:
Summary: This Book Will Touch Your Heart
Review: This is an exceptional book of exceptionally high caliber. The drawings are a delight to the eye and the characters are warm and believable. Tommy, the co-protagonist is inspired to revive Shantytown when he rides through that neighborhood on a train. He takes his childhood dream of revitalization into a career as an architect where he meets Peter, the boy he glimpsed from the train window years earlier. The two men talk about the revitalized Shantytown and in the telling, Tommy as well as the readers are introduced to the delightful senior citizen who planted a tree for Peter. Please read this book. I loved it so much that I told the librarian I lost it just so I could buy and keep it. Believe me, it was a worthwhile investment. Please read this book. You will love it.

Rating:
Summary: An Incredible Book
Review: This is one of the most beautifully illustrated books you will find. The illustrations alone compel all kinds of emotions, and frankly awe at the skill of the illustrator. The story is powerful to all times and all ages, but is also historically a wonderful introduction to the human face of the Depression era- with the mix of courage, hope, and struggle through adversity that is so often forgotten in this era. And, the values of community, family, honorable behavior and giving back something to make the world a better place are somehow woven into a story that is never preachy, never sappy, or sacharine. It is moving and powerful. I highly recommend it and also wish it would be reissued, so I could give copies as gifts.