About this ebook
When the house was new, not a single tree remained on its perfect lawn to give shade from the sun. The children in the house trailed the scent of wild trees to neighboring lots, where thick bushes offered up secret places to play. When the children grew up and moved away, their father, alone in the house, continued his battle against blowing seeds, plucking out sprouting trees. Until one day the father, too, moved away, and as the empty house began its decline, the trees began their approach. At once wistful and exhilarating, this lovely, lyrical story evokes the inexorable passage of time — and the awe-inspiring power of nature to lift us up.
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About the author
Ted Kooser, the United States Poet Laureate from 2004 to 2006, was awarded a Pulitzer Prize for his book of poems Delights & Shadows. </i>He is the author of twelve full-length volumes of poetry and several books of nonfiction, and his work has appeared in many periodicals. Bag in the Wind, illustrated by Barry Root, was his first picture book. Ted Kooser lives in Garland, Nebraska.
Jon Klassen is the creator of the #1 New York Times bestselling I Want My Hat Back, which received a Theodor Seuss Geisel Honor, and its companions, This Is Not My Hat, which won a Caldecott Medal and a Kate Greenaway Medal, and We Found a Hat, named a Publishers Weekly Best Children’s Book of the Year. He is also the creator of the Your Places and Your Things board book series, as well as the picture books The Rock from the Sky and The Skull. He is the illustrator of How Does Santa Go Down the Chimney?, Extra Yarn, Sam and Dave Dig a Hole, and the Shapes Trilogy, all by Mac Barnett. For his contributions to children’s literature, Jon Klassen is a member of the Order of Canada and was named the 2026 recipient of the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award. Originally from Niagara Falls, Ontario, Jon Klassen now lives in Los Angeles.
