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Reviewed by Emily-Jane Hills Orford for Readers' Favorite
“Sometimes to not have is a gift.” That’s what their father shares with his children. In Elena Stowell’s The Knotting Tree, a father shares his reason for keeping the old tree. He will not cut it down because there is a family history of a special connection with trees, and all of nature and the world around them. He shares the family stories about his grandmother, who often slept underneath a special tree and woke up with the voices inside her head of the many animals who visited her during her sleep. But this father doesn’t sleep underneath his tree; he creates art, string art, macrame, all connected to his tree and beyond, as his grandmother once was through her tree. “From line to line to line,/ Ancestors to families,/ Animals to people,/ Hearts to hands.”
Elena Stowell’s picture book, The Knotting Tree, is the story of a family and their connection to the animal and spirit world. It is also a work of art, one that inspires the creation of art and the sharing of it. The language is simple for young readers to follow along easily. The plot is a memoir of sorts, sharing one father’s family ancestral stories, as well as his creative inspiration: his tree. The story is full of words of profound wisdom, like “Happiness chases mistakes away.” The illustrations are mostly collage images, bright, bold, and colorful. These images support the story and add a deeper dimension to the plot development and the spiritual essence of the stories being shared. This book reminds readers of all ages about the importance of family, traditions, and art.