Bare Tree and Little Wind

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Waterbrook Multnomah / Penguin Random House

This picture book, beautifully illustrated by Khoa Le, is set in Jerusalem during a turbulent week that came to be known as Holy. Little Wind and the trees of Jerusalem can’t wait for Real King to visit, but Little Wind is puzzled when the Quiet Man who comes isn't what he expected. His wise friend Bare Tree helps him learn that sometimes strength is found in sacrifice, and new life can spring up even when hope seems lost.

Reviews

★"Bare Tree and Little Wind is marvelous. Unlike any Easter book I’ve read, it has a timeless folktale quality. And yet, this is a true story: the Real King did come, die on a cross, and rise from the dead. And… He is returning! The story isn’t over. Childlike illustrations creatively depict events from Scripture alongside verses like Isaiah 55:12 and Psalm 104:4, and the cover is simply stunning in person ... highly recommended and worth adding to your Easter storybook collection." ~ Redeemed Reader, Starred Review

"Illustrator Khoa Le’s distinctive artwork blends pictures of sweeping winds; jubilant or sorrowful trees; worshipful angels; the humility, sacrifice, and victory of Jesus Christ; and creation, both beautiful and groaning, as it waits in anticipation for the second coming of Jesus. Bare Tree and Little Wind is a children’s picture book worthy of being savored again and again." ~ The Banner
 
"Perkins uses nature to tell a story of Christianity’s Holy Week and of rebirth. ... [ T]he ultimate message is one of hope for the future and celebration of good things to come." ~ School Library Journal

An Englewood Review of Books starred new book of the week!

"Broadly inspired by scripture, Perkins draws on nature to illuminate the story of Holy Week in this wide-ranging picture book. When Little Wind, humanized with a brown-skinned child’s face, blows into Jerusalem, a tall tree reveals that palm fronds will clap without need of the wind’s assistance 'when Real King comes,' but Little Wind doubts that will be the case for frondless Bare Tree in Dead Garden nearby ... Later, bold-hued, chaotic scenes depict the city burning, and Little Wind eventually revisits now-scorched Bare Tree, unexpectedly finding that she’s grown a few golden flowers. Inspired, the pair decide to scatter the blossoms’ seeds 'far and wide' so that Bare Tree’s children 'can clap around the world' when Real King again returns. Le’s elegant depictions of nature foreground seeds and fronds, gentling Perkins’s fast-moving, forward-looking chronology. Ages 3–7. (Feb.)" ~ Publishers Weekly

"... New in 2022 is this stunning Holy Week picture book, Bare Tree and Little Wind. Similar to The Tale of Three Trees, the story is not an exact retelling of the Biblical Easter story. Instead, it focuses on the natural world during the time of Christ’s death and resurrection. This story goes beyond that, through the destruction of Jerusalem, and looking forward to the spread of Christianity over the whole world." ~ Kristin Wynalda, The Best Easter Picture Books About the Gospel for Lent, Big Books Little Ears