The Tree Lady: The True Story of How One Tree-Loving Woman Changed a City Forever

This is a wonderful nonfiction picture book about a tree lover. It is a short story about how she helped the tree population of the city of San Diego.

strong girl story; girl in science story

Summary: This story is about a lady that loved trees and changed the city forever. She changed San Diego go from a dried up desert to a leavy green city with beautiful gardens and parks. She had never lived in a place without trees. After she graduated college, she became a teacher in San Diego

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where there was no trees or green anywhere. Noticing all the dry and brown around her, she decided to start a movement to make the city greener with a lot of trees planted and it changed the city forever.

Personal Reaction: I enjoyed this book very much because it reminded me of my Aunt Lisa. She always had plants and gardens at her house. It was her way of releasing any type of stress that came upon her. I will never forget going out to her garden because it was so peaceful.

Classroom Extension Ideas:
1. Have the students draw a picture of the environment that makes them happy.
2. Write a sentence or two discribing the picture.

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Wonderful written, beautifully illustrated story of an ordinary person who had a great vision and brought it to fruition.

The role of Katherine Olivia Sessions in promoting a greener, more tree-centered park and city in San Diego is explored in this engaging picture-book biography of the late 19th and early 20th-century horticulturist. Nicknamed the 'Mother of Balboa Park,' Kate was the first woman to graduate from

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the University of California with a degree in science. A life-long tree-lover, Kate was raised in northern California, where arboreal life was plentiful. When she moved to San Diego to teach, after graduating from college, she was dismayed to find her new city was practically bare of trees. She soon set out to change that, transforming a city in the process...

I appreciate stories about people who have a positive impact on the world around them, and I like learning about those who were notable in their own time and place, but who have subsequently slipped into obscurity, so The Tree Lady was just my cup of tea. H. Joseph Hopkins' narrative is engaging, and children will enjoy reading about (or listening to) Kate's story. An afterword at the back give more information about the eponymous 'tree lady,' while the gouache artwork by Jill McElmurry captures her life journey from tree-loving girl to mature horticulturist. Recommended to anyone looking for children's stories about making cities more green - The Curious Garden also springs to mind, in this regard - and to those wanting tales about ground-breaking women.

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Wonderful, light history book about Kate Sessions and how she changed San Diego into a city full of trees.