How I Learned to Fall Out of Trees

February 15, 2019
Saying goodbye to a friend is tied together with the experience of climbing in Kirsch's sentimental latest.Roger learns a last lesson from his friend Adelia before her family moves away: how to climb a tree. "What if I fall?" he worries. What follows is a primer on both getting up into the leaves and coping with the loss of someone you're attached to. Kirsch elegantly makes the connection with affirmations that work both ways: "Hang on tight with both hands"; "take it one branch at a time"; and, inevitably, "letting go will be the hardest part!" If it seems tree-twee, the pace and Roger's perpetually grim but trusting face make up for it. The busily illustrated pages that show Roger and Adelia having their last moments together are intercut with items she's collected to break Roger's fall, presented on contrasting white backgrounds. These pages come across like warm, flashing memories. By the time Roger makes his solo climb and falls, smiling, into a gigantic pile of Adelia's making, it feels like a tremendous and joyful payoff to what has previously seemed like a sad learning experience. Adding to the vibe are Kirsch's careful details: bespectacled, pink-skinned Roger's fussy clothing, brown-skinned Adelia's flower garlands, the ridged texture of the tree itself. Close readers might wonder if Adelia falls victim to the "magical minority" trope, but as both children are equally swiftly sketched it does not seem to apply.A well-cultivated story that plants a seed about the value of friends and what they leave with us, even when they're gone. (Picture book. 3-8)

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June 7, 2019

K-Gr 2-Adelia promises bespectacled Roger that she'll teach him how to climb a tree before she moves away. In spring, they gather feathers for cushions as she begins coaching him at their favorite tree. In summer, they bring stuffed toys and fort-making pillows for security during instruction. In autumn, Adelia offers suggestions as the pair collect soft winter outerwear for padding, and pack up her moving boxes. As Adelia rides away, Roger asks "What if I fall?" Her reply: "Falling will be easy. Letting go will be the hardest part." Indeed, Roger leaves even his faithful teddy bear to successfully climb the now-snowy tree, but finds that letting go in any respect is not easy at all. Kirsch's tender tale is illustrated in seasonal watercolors and ink with cut tracing. Jolly scenes like the children packed in boxes with gloves on feet and eyes peering out balance the melancholy to come. VERDICT The double meaning of the tale's finale may require explanation but the story and illustrations are a champion team, like Adelia and Roger.-Gay Lynn Van Vleck, Henrico County Library, Glen Allen, VA

Copyright 2019 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2019
In a thoughtful effort to prepare best friend Roger for her move, Adelia teaches him how to climb a tree and "how to fall"; her speech-balloon instructions make good guidelines for life as well as tree-climbing. Circular illustrations show soft objects Adelia collects--for the pile Roger finally falls into with a smile. This tender story is an eloquent metaphor for saying goodbye and allowing memories to cushion the blow.

(Copyright 2019 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

July 1, 2019
Adelia and Roger are best friends, but Adelia is moving away. In a thoughtful effort to prepare Roger for her absence, Adelia teaches him how to climb a tree and, because he is concerned about it, how to fall. The left side of each spread in the book's first half features third-person text and circular illustrations showing all the items Adelia is collecting; these items include not just soft feathers and leaves but the stuffed animals they once played with, the pillows they had used to make forts, etc. The right side of the book features Adelia's instructions to Roger, depicted in speech balloons. Her helpful advice can be read on more than one level: instructions such as hang on tight with both hands and when you're ready, climb up to the next branch make good guidelines for life as well as tree-climbing. The pacing slows in the last six spreads, as Roger reluctantly says goodbye ( Letting go will be the hardest part ) and climbs the tree. But, knowing that Adelia had prepared to lessen the pain of his fall in more ways than one, he falls with a smile into the pile of soft objects Adelia had been gathering. Kirsch's story spans the seasons; the endpapers subtly depict the passage of time via leaves changing color from spring and summer to autumn. This tender story, sweet without being saccharine

(Copyright 2019 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)