Circa 1960: Children’s book about a large pine tree in a forest which all the animals and birds seek shelter in, especially during the winter in the snow. The illustration in the snow with all the birds on the branches and the animals sheltered at the bottom of the tree was amazing. I seem to remember a little girl having to take shelter in it too, along with the animals. Then something happens to the tree…it falls down during a storm or something like that. The birds and animals are sad and worried. Then someone plants a new smaller tree which will grow and take its place. The illustrations are beautiful (I realize that doesn’t help) – maybe a German or European author/illustrator? Definitely German or Scandinavian in style. Something tells me the title was “The ____ Tree” but not The Giving Tree, and I’ve searched until I’m desperate.
Stump the Bookseller
New format, same book stumper solving.
Almost certainly The Snowstorm (1955) by the Swiss poet Selina Chonz, illustrated by the highly acclaimed Alois Carigiet! (You can see his work in Google Images. He won the 1966 Hans Christian Andersen Medal.)
“As he gets ready for the (sled parade) party, Ursli unthinkingly sends his sister off to get a decoration for his sled. A snowstorm arises, and when her brother arrives he finds that only the old Weather Tree has saved her.” (And in the spring, they plant a new tree, since the old one was broken.) Chonz & Carigiet also created A Bell for Ursli (1950) and Florina and the Wild Bird (1952, translated from the German by Anne and Ian Serraillier)
I happened to see The Snowstorm in a store in Hong Kong in 2001 – in Cantonese, I think!
Wow! That’s great! That’s absolutely the book! Thank you, thank you, thank you. This is a wonderful use of the internet. Can’t wait to find a copy.
Glad to hear that your stumper was solved, Erica. We also do book searches here at Loganberry, if you would like us to find a copy for you.
Erica Cole, I just realized that in 2017 I posted the same exact query! What a great book, eh?