The Abba Tree (Tu B'Shevat)

A little girl named Hannah and her father Abba (which is Hebrew for 'Dad') are spending time together in nature on Tu B'Shevat, the Jewish Arbor Day. As Abba rests under a carob tree, Hannah declares that she wants to climb a tree. The carob tree's trunk is too skinny, but can she climb a eucalyptus tree or a pine tree or an olive tree? When each poses a challenge (one for being too scratchy, the other for not having footholds) Abba offers new inspiration for climbing and insight into what Hannah and the carob tree share in common.

A delightfully charming and wonderfully entertaining picture book story for children ages 4-8, 'The Abba Tree' is an original tale by author and storyteller Devora Busheri that is delightfully illustrated with the visual imaging of artist Gal Shkedi. While especially and unreservedly recommended for family, daycare center, preschool, elementary school, and community library picture books for children, it should be noted for personal reading lists that 'The Abba Tree' is also readily available in a paperback edition (9781541534759, $7.99) and in a digital book format (Kindle, $7.99). -- James A. Cox, Midwest Book Review

-- "Website" (10/14/2020 12:00:00 AM) Devo-ra Busheri's The Abba Tree is a sweet father-daugh-ter vignette, with joy-ful illus-tra-tions that talks about a hol-i-day with-out defin-ing it, per-haps pur-pose-ly geared towards the ini-ti-at-ed Jew-ish read-er. The sto-ry begins with the mov-ing Tal-mu-dic quote about Honi and the trees he plant-ed for future gen-er-a-tions. It then jumps to mod-ern pro-tag-o-nist Han-nah's whin-ing about want-i-ng a tree to climb. Her father says plant one because Tu B'shvat is com-ing, but Han-nah wants a tree to climb right now! While dad rests she tries climb-ing trees. She fails with the slip-pery Euca-lyp-tus and the scratchy Pine. The knobs on the Olive's trunk get her to the top, but she sneezes and falls down. The Carob is too young. Her father sug-gests she plant an abba tree and she does, using his feet as roots and his strong arms to hold a swing. His hair sprouts branch-es for the ben-e-fit of ani-mals and his pock-et hous-es a bird. Han-nah climbs up her father but she is too heavy and they both fall. Her father, abba, explains that they plant-ed the Carob tree when she was born for her chil-dren to have one day.

The final pic-ture shows her father as an old man, Han-nah an old-er mom, and a lit-tle boy try-ing to climb a tree. The illus-tra-tions deliv-er the plot, cre-at-ing a charm-ing book that ref-er-ences a touch-ing gen-er-a-tional tra-di-tion and Honi's kind eco-log-i-cal lesson.

Tu B'shvat is a hol-i-day cel-e-brat-ed between mid-Jan-u-ary and Feb-ru-ary on the fif-teenth (Tu) day of the Hebrew month Shvat to mark the New Year of the Trees. In Israel, chil-dren cel-e-brate by plant-i-ng trees. Out-side Israel, many Jews con-tribute funds to devel-op forests there. It is cus-tom-ary to try to eat foods from Israel, espe-cial-ly sev-en species men-tioned in Deuteron-o-my 8: wheat, bar-ley, grapes, figs, pome-gran-ates, olives, and dates. In ancient times the first har-vest of these foods became Tem-ple offer-ings. Some share a Tu B'shvat Seder fea-tur-ing these fruits. This warm pic-ture book shows us a love-ly hol-i-day which con-nects humans with nature. -- Ellen G. Cole, Jewish Book Council

-- "Website" (1/19/2021 12:00:00 AM) How do you feel when you hear the world 'infotainment'? Some people have positive association with it, because they believe that is an effective way to educate people. Others feel that it is diluting education and is a waste of time compared to old(er) school methods. I am somewhere in the middle: if it is done well it doesn't matter as long as it works. 'I admired 'The Abba Tree', because it hit a great balance of teaching while providing a fun experience for kids (and me too, an 'adult'.) The 'content'-to use a word currently re- and mis-appropriated by marketing industry-was simple: a classic Talmud story and the description of three different kinds of trees. These in themselves can sound boring to those who are not interested in these topics. But weaved into the story and depicted with gorgeous illustrations became hidden in plain sight. Gal Shkedi, the book's illustrator is an Israeli animator who 'has developed a beautifully composed style' and is 'always pushing simplicity to its most aesthetically powerful limits.' These were quotes from his own website and I couldn't have described it any better. His videos, mostly short commercials, are really fun to watch. His drawing for this book follows his usual, simple style, but it still has plenty of small adorable details. They represent both the perspective of a young girl and the loving father-daughter relationship that is a prerequisite for making such a story authentic. I will definitely read this book to my daughter when the book comes out. I feel she will love it although I might have to work out more to be the kind of Abba/Dad that is in the book. Why? You will have to read the book to figure the answer out. -- Jewish Book World

-- "Magazine" (6/12/2020 12:00:00 AM) The Abba Tree opens with a passage from the Babylonian Talmud, in which Honi sees a man planting a carob tree and asks him how long it will take for the tree to bear fruit. When he replies 'seventy years, ' Honi asks if he will live seventy more years to eat this fruit. The man says, 'I found a world full of carob trees. Just as my ancestors planted trees for me, I too am planting for my descendants.'

The story then begins with Hannah searching for a tree to climb. Her father, who is resting under a young carob tree, suggests she plant one, as it is soon to be Tu B'Shevat. But Hannah wants 'to climb a tree now.' And so she goes searching for a tree to climb, trying unsuccessfully with three other types of trees. She returns to her father who then suggests she plant an Abba Tree, which she does by 'planting' her father into the ground and climbing him. After this, the two rest under the tree and a version of the conversation as described in the above-mentioned Talmudic passage ensues between them. The story then comes full circle in the final illustration spread as the reader sees Abba and an adult Hannah, along with her son, resting under the carob tree which has now grown.

With a unique artistic style, illustrator Shkedi appropriately uses earth tone colors of mainly different shades of greens and browns, conveying a very natural atmosphere for a book about trees.

The Abba Tree was originally published in Hebrew and although the book doesn't explicitly express that the story takes place in Israel, the father is referred to as 'Abba, ' the Hebrew word for father, and the trees that Hannah attempts to climb are carob, eucalyptus, pine and olive, giving the book a natural feel for an Israeli setting.

Author Busheri takes the concept of planting a tree on the holiday of Tu B'Shevat one step further by showing how people must plant trees for the next generation, lending this book to interesting classroom discussions about the environment and altruistic behavior. -- Freidele Galya Soban Biniashvili, Sydney Taylor Shmooze

-- "Blog" (12/7/2020 12:00:00 AM) The Abba Tree, originally written in Hebrew by Israeli author Devora Busheri, relates the story of a young girl and her father who are spending time together on Tu B'Shevat, the festival that celebrates trees. The well known Talmudic legend of Honi the Circlemaker introduces the story in which Honi encounters a man planting a carob tree. Honi asks how long it will take for the tree to bear fruit, and the man replies that it will take seventy years. Honi asks if the man will live seventy years to eat the fruit of the tree, but he replies that since his ancestors planted trees for him, he is now planting trees for his descendants. The book begins when Hannah wants to climb a tree, but each one she encounters has a problem. Abba, her father, rests against the carob tree. She tries several trees--the eucalyptus is too slippery, the bark of the pine tree is too rough, the olive tree is full of dents and knobs, and the branches of the carob tree are too fragile. Her father suggests an Abba Tree, and so Hannah climbs up her father's tall frame which is just about perfect. He then tells her the story of the nearby carob tree and how he planted it when she was born so there would be a world filled with trees for her children. The tale is a sweet story about the warmth of the father-daughter relationship and trees, but there is no discussion or information about the holiday of Tu B'Shevat. The illustrations are done in soft, warm colors with various animals and birds making appearances in the trees. The characters are cartoon-like with large heads on thin bodies, but the overall impression is one of love within the cycle of generations. -- Rachel Glasser, retired Librarian, Yavneh Academy, Teaneck, NJ, AJL Newsletter

-- "Magazine" (12/1/2020 12:00:00 AM) What is the titular Abba Tree?

The flyleaf explains that Abba is the Hebrew word for father, but most kids will intuit the meaning, as little, bespectacled Hannah tries to communicate with her tall, lanky dad while he grabs a nap under his favorite carob tree. The carob has a special relation to the Jewish observance Tu B'Shevat, and Abba planted this particular tree for Hannah the year she was born. Hannah wants to climb a tree, but she knows that this carob is young and weak. She finds others nearby: first the eucalyptus, whose 'trunk [is] slippery, ' then the pine, whose 'bark [is] rough and scratchy, ' and finally, the olive, with pollen that 'tickle[s] Hannah's nose.' Not finding any of these satisfactory, she goes to wake Abba. When faced with her request, he wittily suggests: 'Plant an Abba Tree.' Hannah positions her father upright with his feet as roots and his strong arms out straight, holding branches bearing an upside-down bat and a right-side-up owl. This Israeli import, translated from the Hebrew, is quietly amusing, but with no real explanation of the holiday's meaning, it assumes a knowledgeable readership. The naive pictures, created with a palette of simple greens, blues, and browns, have an animated cartoon look that suits the quirky story. Hannah and Abba both have dark hair and pink skin.

A sweet father-daughter tale well-suited for homes familiar with Tu B'Shevat. -- Kirkus Reviews

-- "Journal" (7/15/2020 12:00:00 AM)