This is a non-fiction nature book for children, written with the intent of educating children and their parents about an endangered form of plant life, the mangrove tree. As we proceed through the pages, we see how many animal species are dependent on the tree for their own survival.
We begin with a flock of pelicans landing on a mangrove island. As they settle in the branches, they knock off one of the seeds, known as a propagule, and it falls into the sea and is swept away until it reaches a lagoon. There it takes root and begins to grow, taking decades to achieve its full height and breadth. But when it does, a mangrove crab comes to live there, eating its leaves. Oysters, sea anemones, and corals settle around the roots. A periwinkle tree snail comes along as well, each creature living in symbiosis with the tree. And as the tree begins to drop leaves which fall into the water, creating sludge, grasses grow in that sludge.
Then the mangrove tree grew flowers, and anole lizards happened on the scene. They began to eat the ants that crawled on the flowers. Hummingbirds built their nests in the tree and sucked the nectar. Seahorses laid their eggs in the grasses down below. Dolphins and manatees decided to stay as well.
Now a century has passed, and that one mangrove tree has become a mangrove island, teeming with life in the Caribbean sunshine. But soon a man came along and decided he should cut down the island to make a shrimp farm. His friend talked him out of it, explaining that the mangrove is the only tree who can live in the salty water, and how many forms of life depend on the tree. And nothing, not even a harsh storm, could destroy the trees. They grew tall and strong, gaining strength from each other, as long as they aren’t cut down.
This beautifully illustrated book shows the consequences of cutting down trees, especially ones that are so rare. I recommend this book as a great resource to teach your children how nature depends on itself to survive, and how perfectly balanced all the elements of nature really are.
(This book was published in 2004 and was illustrated by the author.)
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