Song of the Trees

Preview — Song of the Trees by Mildred D. Song of the Trees Logans 3 by Mildred D. With the depression bearing down on her family and food in short supply, Cassie Logan isn't sure where her next meal will come from. But there is one thing that she knows will always be there-the whispering trees outside her window. Cassie's trees are a steady source of comfort to her, but they also happen to be worth a lot of money. Andersen tries to force Big M With the depression bearing down on her family and food in short supply, Cassie Logan isn't sure where her next meal will come from.

Andersen tries to force Big Ma to sell their valuable trees, Cassie can't just sit by and let it happen. She knows that her family needs the money, but something tells her that they need the trees just as much. The beloved heroine of Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry enchants us again in this story of strength and pride.

Paperback , 64 pages. Published May 26th by Puffin Books first published To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up. To ask other readers questions about Song of the Trees , please sign up. See 1 question about Song of the Trees…. Lists with This Book. Jun 02, NebraskaIcebergs rated it really liked it. Sometimes I think I am a difficult book reviewer to please. One minute, I fault an author for leaving too many loose ends. The next minute, I fault an author for tying together too many of those loose ends.

Yet the longer I review books, the more I feel that writing a good book is like catching lightning in a bottle. Song of the Trees by Mildred Taylor is an excellent example of a story that could have been composed wrongly in so many ways. It is the sign of a truly talented author that Mildred Sometimes I think I am a difficult book reviewer to please.

It is the sign of a truly talented author that Mildred Taylor gets it right. The trees whisper a song of greeting every morning to Cassie. When Cassie is playing with her siblings, she likes to shout back a response. When she plays tag with her clan of siblings, the trees even seem to tap her with their lower branches. Instead, they respond with an uneasy silence. In some ways, Song of the Trees is not an original story. Many feel-good ecological tales have been told and will continue to be told about the fight to save some piece of land for one reason or another. For one thing, despite their protest, the children are not able to stop the destruction.

She hopes that her readers will be as moved by the story as she was. At least with this reader, she succeeded. As she poetically described the quiet of the forest with its now-open spaces, I found myself reflecting upon the woods which are nearby my hometown and hoping that I never see their demise. I also like how realistically the Logan children react.

At first, they simply mutter their complaints around the adults who are discussing the sale of the trees. However, as the days drag on and the devastation of the Logan land seems endless, the children become curious. They venture onto the trails which used to be lined with their trees. When ordered by a lumberman to go home, they refuse and things quickly get out of hand. And that can be a dangerous combination. Even in her conclusion, Taylor weaves an elegant balance. On one level, Song of the Trees is about seeing the wrongful destruction of a place one loves.

Taylor always does, which is why I keep reading her books. Mar 07, La'shae rated it liked it Shelves: I liked this book very much. It touched upon very adult topics like racism and illness.

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I would not recommend for this book to be in a lower level elementary classroom because of its maturity and length; however, it should definitely be considered for an upper level classroom. I especially liked this book because of its message. Dec 19, Emily Yao rated it it was amazing Shelves: This is a great book! We read it on class recently. It is a very touching story about family, love, kindness and courage. It's amazing how a story like this can be so interesting and full of emotions in one small book!

Kind of a sparse, minimal story about a conflict in Mississippi during the Great Depression. In under 50 pages, it touches on issues of family, race, environmentalism, illness, and the Depression itself--which is quite an accomplishment for a relatively short picture-book for children! My average rating is mostly because I didn't care for the illustrations.

With better illustrations, I think this book would be quite something. Apr 05, Molly Cline rated it really liked it Shelves: This was book 3 of the Logan series written by Ms Taylor. Although this book was more for children versus the first book "The Land" was, still almost just as good. And although she didn't write in the beginning of this one this is what she wrote in the first pages of "The Land" and it applies to this book as well Although there are those who wish to ban my books because I have used language that is painful, I have chosen to use the language that was spoken during the period, for I refuse to whitewash history.

The language was painful and life was painful for many Africian Americans, including my family. But she writes true to her words, if she had changed the language then the book wouldn't have been as Historically OR family accurate to be as good as it was! This can be read as an independent book without having read the first 2, but in reading the first two you understand fully the emotions behind why the Logan family felt the way they did.

I personally am reading them and this book took me about 25 minutes or so to read. It was as if we were sitting on the porch listening to old folks in the family speak; just like Ms Taylor wanted it to be. This is such a wonderful true story. Ms Taylor takes the stories she has grown up listening to from her grandparents and uncles-aunts and takes the stories of her family and combine them for these stories! Knowing that made it even more wonderful. This is book 3 of this series of books.

There are 8 books in this 'Logan' series which many people don't realize since book 4 apparently was Ms Taylor's first book she wrote for this series. Since it won awards and she had so much more history to write she took off with it and make it into a series. Some of the books are 'novels' and others like this one are smaller 50 page 'children's' books looks like labeled for ages according to Amazon but as an adult I loved this book and am looking forward to continuing reading this series.

Now with that being said I am white and I nor any of my family have ever had to deal with what 'freed' slaves or a child from a mixed family has had to deal with. Including threats of the Logan families' lives. Which this time frame depression President Roosevelt era black people still had to heed what whites said as not many authoritative people would take a black person's 'side' May 01, Tiauna Holley rated it it was amazing Shelves: This is a historical fiction book.

This book is about a family who seems loving, down to earth and lives with encouragement. With Cassie is in Mississippi her father is working in Louisianan to bring home money and medicine. Ther This is a historical fiction book.

Questions?

There is a man who wants to buy the trees off of Cassie's family yard, but the question is with her father approve of the choice. I also gave this book five stars because cover is conflicting there is a little girl hiding behind a tree from that I would think it was a story about a younger girl and her brothers playing or how they lived during the great depression. I wish there was more art work to go with the book besides just the cover. Oct 06, Books Kids Like rated it it was amazing Shelves: Cassie Logan's family is the only black family to own land in their township of Mississippi.

It's hard for the white people in the area to countenance the confidence this land gives the Logans. They aren't typical of other blacks, and they certainly don't act the way the whites want them to. For Cassie the trees mean home.

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They are alive, and she can often hear them sing. One day the trees stop singing, however. Times are hard, and Mr. Logan is away working on railroad construction. Big Ma Cass Cassie Logan's family is the only black family to own land in their township of Mississippi. Big Ma Cassie's grandmother feels forced by necessity to sell some of the trees. The white man who makes the deal tries to swindle her by taking more trees than he pays for.

When they return, Mr. Logan brings a black detonator box with him. The night they arrive home, they lay sticks of dynamite throughout the woods. Nov 12, Jaybandz is currently reading it. Mar 13, John Kim rated it really liked it. Cassie, main character, and her family are so poor that they always concern meals. Although she is in such environment, she becomes comfort with songs of the trees. However, white people who come from city try to cut off priceless trees to her with cost for the development.

It seems that Cassie will not let them to cut off the trees. I think it is well written and easy to read. Although I had come to the U. Aug 22, Matthew Hunter rated it really liked it Shelves: This is the type of story where reviewers will call it "life affirming", which is code for "Prepare to feel deep discomfort or despair.

The family's inherent dignity lifted our spirits slightly during the bedtime read along, but in the end, it's doubt and sadness. We were speechless as well. A quick shout out to Caldecott medal winning illustrator Jerry Pinkney. His partnership with Mildred D. As she gathers herself together, she accidentally knocks into a chair.

Prompted by Big Ma, she opens her bedroom window and gazes out into the field and examines the forest of trees that sits behind the house far back into the property. She admires them, but this is quickly short-lived as Big Ma tells her to get moving or else she'll whoop her. Cassie goes into the kitchen where her mother, Mary, is there preparing breakfast. Her older brother Stacey is also there setting up the fire in the oven and one of her younger brothers Christopher-John is there. Christopher-John is scolded a little by Mary for waking up in the middle of the night eating all of the cornbread.

While she doesn't want to let her children go hungry, she tells Christopher-John to ease up on his appetite. At this time, it is learned that her husband and the children's father, David Logan, is down in Louisiana laying down tracks on the railroad to support the family. Cassie's other younger brother and the youngest overall, Little Man, enters and they get into a brief fight over the stain on his pants Little Man believes Cassie is responsible for the day before.

The fight is interrupted by Stacey, but Cassie and Little Man decide to settle their differences on the matter later on without Stacey around to see them. Mary sends Cassie to help Little Man gather eggs and during this time, Big Ma urges Mary to write to David and let him know that they need money to make up for the ten dollars that mysteriously went missing from the letter he sent. Mary declines, not wanting to bug him and lets her know when it came to food supply, there was still enough vegetables in their garden to get. Big Ma asks about medicine and Mary brushes her off as Cassie re-emerges into the kitchen with a basket to gather the eggs with.

After breakfast, Cassie and her brothers go into the forest with their three cows and their offspring, walking them to a pond.

It was a muggy morning, but the trees were keeping the heat out as their leaves blew above them. Cassie takes it as them singing and asks Stacey if he can see it too, but Stacey dismisses this and tells her that it's just the wind. Shortly after, Cassie asks Stacey about the well-being of their mother when overhearing her and Big Ma talk about medicine.

Stacey assures her that their mother was alright but if she was ill, then it wasn't that serious for them to worry about. The kids leave the cows and their calves at the pond to drink water while they go out and pick blackberries. Along the way, the kids decide to play a quick game of hide-and-seek. Cassie notices the leaves of the trees stop moving. When Stacey approaches her, she tells him that they "aren't singing anymore". Stacey tells them that they should pick the berries now before it got too late. They come across two white men, Mr. Andersen and his partner Tom, who are talking about cutting down the trees.

The kids hide so they aren't noticed. Andersen hasn't gone to spoke to Big Ma yet about taking the trees but is planning to do that soon.

Song of the Trees . . By: Mildred D. Taylor by Tyrion Anderson on Prezi

Tom is worried about David's reaction as he doesn't make dealings with white folks. Andersen assures him that David won't be a problem since he doesn't own the land and sends Tom on his way to get his team of lumbermen to start cutting down the trees for him to claim. The Logan kids hurry back to the house where they find Mr. Andersen there talking to their mother and Big Ma. Andersen offered up sixty-five dollars and says that's more than what David would make in two months.

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Mary objects the offer, feeling they can make it with the amount David sends. Andersen says that anything could happen to David and he could get into an accident. This worries Big Ma who quickly accepts the offer, but the kids quickly come in to protest. Andersen, saying that the trees were her friends and wasn't going to let him cut them down. Her mother grabs a hold of her and sends her off to her room. That night, Cassie wakes up and looks outside the window of her room and sees Mama, Big Ma and Stacey on their mare, Lady. She asks her mother where Stacey was off to and Mary tells her that he was off to retrieve their father.

On the fourth day since Stacey's departure, Cassie sees her mother walking alone through the forest. She decides to join her and ask how sick she was, remembering the conversation she had with Big Ma just days earlier. Mary tells her she was very much sick, but was going to feel better when David returned home.

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They enter into an area and see that many of the trees have already been cut down. The ones still standing had been marked with white X's to soon signal their cut-down. Mother and daughter held tight to each other and cried at the sight of this. After they returned to the house, Little Man decided he wanted to go look at the destruction for himself. Ignoring his mother's orders not to go into the forest, he does so anyway with Cassie and Christopher-John following him. They come across Mr. Andersen and his team of lumbermen who spot them.