When Tree Became a Tree

Meet Tree! Follow along as she guides us through her life cycle in this charming and humorous nonfiction picture book.

Following the success of When Cloud Became a Cloud and When Moon Became the Moon comes Rob Hodgson’s next long-form picture book about an apple tree’s life cycle. This delightfully fun exploration of trees both informs and entertains, and helps young readers make sense of the world around them. The charming protagonist, Tree, sparsely narrates her story in ten short chapters with text bubbles and vignettes sprinkled in to provide wit, style, and humor. Young audiences will immediately connect to the colorful, whimsical art and welcome a sense of accomplishment in devouring this unexpected yet wholly accessible scientific book.

Rob Hodgson was born in a seaside town in the south of England, and studied illustration at Plymouth University. Today he lives in Bristol, where he spends his days making a mess and turning it into quality illustration projects and books. He cites Yoko Ono, Ed Templeton, and Arthur Russell among his influences. Working with traditional and lo-fi techniques such as block printing and wood cut, along with digital processes, Rob combines old and new approaches to create his work. His interests include spotting lichen, animals, skateboards, the psychology of perception, and collecting strange toys.