This lovely little picturebook tells a story from the perspective of a young fir tree, and uses its sweet story to teach children about the ways a forest is interconnected through a web of fungus. The imagery is artful and the story both poignant and educational.

Thank you Lucy Brownridge, NetGalley, and Quarto Publishing Group – Ivy Kids, Ivy Kids Eco for providing this ARC for review consideration. All opinions expressed are my own.

4.5 stars

Woo… another wonderful book from my favorite kiddo publishers. This one deals with how the trees in a forest are connected through their root system and communicate with each other. The trees share resources, support, and help each other all through their lives (which spans decades).
Here, we have a little Douglas fir struggling to grow in a dense forest. Without enough rainwater or sunlight, the little one has to make do with what it has. However, when it cries for help, the message is spread across the forest, and the paper birch sends help. Later, when the time comes, the little tree returns the favor.
The book explains the symbiotic relationship between different trees and other elements in nature (fungi, etc.) It presents the Wood Wide Web (fungal network) underneath the earth using a cute and inspiring story of talking trees. I love the presentation and the approach to the topic. I also love how the content is easy for kids to understand. The text is tiny but readable.
The illustrations are vibrant and bold. Personally, I love the sweeping shades and hues in multiple colors. The underground network looks really fab with a dark background. What I love the most is the expressions on the trees. Every tree has eyes, a nose, and a mouth (a simple line). So cute, right?
The book ends with a little glossary and more information about how the Wood Wide Web. This is my favorite quote:
“A forest is only as strong as its smallest, little tree.”

To summarize, Little Tree and the Wood Wide Web is a wonderful book to teach children about the marvels of nature and help them better appreciate the lessons about co-existing with each other and helping one another. The way to safeguard the environment is to learn how to live with nature. Take but make sure you give back too!
This book is printed on planet-friendly recycled paper.
I received an ARC from NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group – Ivy Kids Eco and am voluntarily leaving a review.
#LittleTreeandtheWoodWideWeb #NetGalley
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Links to GR and Amazon reviews will be updated later.

This is the cutest thing I've ever seen! The illustrations are beautiful! I love the story and the science. I want to buy a copy for my little girls.

Based on a true story, your young reader will learn about trees and how they work together and live. My daughter enjoyed reading this book as a middle elementary age. The author includes a glossary at the end to further help the reader learn.

Wowza! Fascinating scientific facts delivered in a cute and relatable children's story. This is a great resource to teach children about the interconnectedness of trees. It is also a valuable tool for instilling environmental awareness in young readers.

Beautiful art. Beautiful story.

This is an enchanting book all about the symbiotic relationships that trees have had for millennium and about how they each help take care of each other. The illustrations are whimsical and help the reader stay engaged! My daughter loved this story and told me it helped her to learn that it’s okay to ask for help and that it’s important to pass the help on when others need it. We loved this story and can’t wait to add the physical copy to our home library.

I thought this illustrated book was a great follow-up read to "21 Things to Do With a Tree" by
Jane Wilsher. It's an informative and educational piece about how trees communicate amongst themselves in their times of need, especially paper birch and Douglas fir trees. Kids can learn more about those close relationships between natural elements, like this underground fungal network aptly dubbed "Wood Wide Web".
There's only one thing that I liked less, it was the visual design. The pictures are very cluttered with highly saturated colours, it's not a style that appeals to me much.

This book was so cute and such a good story about helping others! There was also some fun tid bits about trees in the end. I also really enjoyed the illustrations in this one as well.