Maple and Rosemary

For the longest time, Maple was a lonely tree, separated from the cedars and the pines. All she wanted was a friend to talk to. Then one day, an excitable young girl named Rosemary hops into her branches, sad and searching for a friend of her own. Maple shakes with delight and a lasting friendship is struck.

Rosemary returns to her friend maple often, teaching her about letters and numbers, and Maple responds in turn, showing her leaf-eating caterpillars that turn into pollinating butterflies. Then one day Rosemary doesn't come, and Maple aches with loneliness. Once you have a friend, you truly know what you are missing when they are gone. As days pass, and then seasons and years, but in time Rosemary does return. She's grown to become a teacher and is followed by a swarm of children as young as she was when she first came to visit. Suddenly, Maple is surrounded by friends both new and old.

Through the seasons and across a lifetime, Maple and Rosemary tells a story of true friendship, what we share with the ones we love, and the ways they keep us from ever really being lonely. Alison James's warm text is accompanied by the superb illustrations of Jennifer K. Mann, creator of the much-acclaimed The Camping Trip. The book manages to be both timely and timeless, and may well be a new generation's answer to The Giving Tree.