Big Tree

by Mary Buff, Conrad Buff

A giant five-thousand-year-old Sequoia, called Wa-No-Na by the Indians, tells its life story.

Genres: Childrens, Nature, History, Juvenile

79 pages, Hardcover

First published September 20, 1946

About the author

Mary Buff, formerly known as Mary Marsh, was born in Cincinnati, Ohio on April 10, 1890. Mary had an early interest in arts and poetry but only continued to study art. She studied at the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts and at the Cincinnati Art Academy and received her bachelor's degree in Kansas at Bethany College. Mary then lived in Albion, Idaho and in the 1920s settled in Los Angeles. In 1922 she married Conrad Buff. Mary was the assistant curator at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Her income was large enough to allow her husband, Conrad Buff, to paint full-time. After marrying Conrad Buff, Mary gave up her pursuit of painting to write children`s books with him. She died in 1970.

Reviews

[Leslie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I remember reading this book in elementary school and it having a big impression on me. Decades later, I found a copy at my son's elementary school library (the book is out of print and used copies are >$40 on Amazon). I just re-read it, and it is still as wonderful as I remember it.

[Lynette Caulkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a really neat book for anyone who has seen the majestic giant sequoia trees. It gives you a whole new perspective on how very long it takes them to grow, and the ages of history that their lives span. Children will enjoy the stories of animals living in the tree's forest.

[Debra B. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Many thanks to BRENDA for finding the title of this book that I last read in 4th grade (1967-1968), when it was included in a Scott Foresman advanced reader (so I have learned from a customer review on amazon.com by a former elementary school teacher who remembers the book). This is an amazing book. The story, and the soft, gray pencil llustrations by the author(s), were as I remembered them to be. That a Sequoia, California Redwood, can live for thousands of years is truly amazing -- and true! I leared from Wikipedia, that the real Wawona tree, through which a tunnel was made so that automobiles could drive through the base of its trunk, toppled over in 1969. This book was written in 1946. I was lucky to obtain a used copy of the paperback edition. It will be among my treasured books. A very creative story about Wawona, the "big tree", from its beginning as a seed until its advanced age, with all of the parallel events in human history mentioned during this story of the tree's incredibly long life. Told from the tree's point of view, whose name is Wawona, a Native American name, it also keeps the reader's attention by discussing the ecological interplay among the animals and plants in the part of the forest called "Fallen Meadow". I cried at the end! A beautiful story.

[Ruthmgon · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of my all time favorite kids books. I read this book of my mothers when I was a kid--and learned subtley about the natural world--things like fire resistant bark, eagle pairs, forest habitat, ecology, evolutionary biology, history, etc. I also liked the small images in the top that would show what the humans were doing when Wawona as a young sapling, a tall tree,etc.

Oh and there are some great drawings. Especially the book jacket, but the entire book has cute little drawings of "a squirrel" or "the prospector", etc

Well worth reading, for any age.

[Brian A · Rating 3 out of 5]

Summary: A biography of Wawona, a giant, old redwood tree, and some anecdotes about the other plants and animals that have lived around it over the years. A simple story aimed at younger readers with a nice environmental message.

Discussion: This opened with a poem that had a modern novel-in-verse style to it, and I wondered if that would be the entire book. But no, it was just an introductory poem, the rest was prose. I then wondered if this was going to be an allegory for something. If it is, it’s not very obvious — this seems to be a book about a tree.

I guess that’s okay, this has a cozy vibe to it. There are interludes between chapters that put Wawona’s age into context, and it is a neat effect. The stories themselves aren’t anything special, but I think this would be a good chapter book for an elementary reader. And I will say, the arrival of humans near the end does truly hit a depressing note.

Would this book be better if Wawona was cut down in the end? No, probably not, but it certainly would drive home the environmental point. It’d probably scar some kids, too.

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars. This is a novelization of the life of a famous sequoia in Yosemite National Park. Some facts about this particular tree as presented in the book are questionable but the story is interesting. It covers Wawona's life from a seed to a giant that survives a major fire and escapes a nearby timbering operation to be preserved by John Muir. I would have enjoyed this quite a lot as a child; it has a similar flavor to Emil Liers "The Otter's Story" and "The Beaver's Story" from roughly the same time period which were favorites of mine. I read this for my 2019 Reading Challenge and myNewbery Challenge (Honor Book, 1947).

[Jen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is only 79 pages, so it wasn't difficult to read, but even that much was pretty boring. Giant Redwoods are so amazing; I don't think we need to anthropomorphize the tree and its ecosystem to convince children they are worth saving.

[Doug Crawford · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this book in the 3rd grade and was mesmerized by it. Great story following the growth of a single tree and the events that occurred while it was growing from a seed to present (at time of writing).

[Amber Scaife · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tells the story of a 5000-year-old Redwood Tree, from a seed to the tallest giant in the forest. A bit dated, but it does what it says on the tin, and it's still a nice little story.

[Gabriella Bumbaca · Rating 3 out of 5]

Genre: Contemporary Realistic Fiction
Grade Range: 4-6
Review:
I was not a huge fan of this book. It was very long and wordy. I feel like it was not interesting enough to keep a student's attention since it barely kept mine. However, if a student has a huge interest in trees, this could be a very cool book for them. The moral of the story is good, so it could be good for a study on trees or Wawona specifically.

[Jessica · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is about a big, old tree called Wawona. He starts out as a seed and grows into a seedling. He sees a bear get sprayed by a skunk, pas a pine tree fall on him for three years, and survives a fire. A blue jay eats owl eggs. A young buck defeats an old buck. There is another fire. Eagles nest in Wawona for years until the nest falls down. A man comes to search for gold but leaves when a trade rat steals his glasses, and a bear shreds his bacon and flour sack. A lot of big old trees get chopped down, but Wawona gets spared.

This book was kind of interesting, but I didn't care for the tree being personified and having feelings. It was also just a lot of speculation about things that might have happened during the tree's existence.

[Michael Fitzgerald · Rating 4 out of 5]

Somewhat wordy, but an engaging story of one of the greatest trees and the animals that lived near it in California. Beautiful pictures. Some of the facts presented are questionable - the book says the tree is at least 5,000 years old, but other sources say 2,300 (some other trees have been dated as over 4,000). It is claimed that it is the oldest in the world, but other sources say some bristlecone pine trees are older. No mention is made of the tunnel made in the tree in 1881. And, of course, the authors could not know that this tree would fall in the winter of 1969.

[Heather]

A giant five-thousand -year-old Sequoia, called Wa-NO-Na by the Indians, tells its life story.
Newbery Honor Book 1947

[Curriculum · Rating 4 out of 5]

1947 Newbery Honor book in which a giant five-thousand-year-old Sequoia called Wa-NO-Na, tells its life story.

[Scott Williams]

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[Mckinley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Life of a Sequoia, redwood tree. Nicely done.

[LQ 🖖 🇨🇦 (to the max!) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyed this book immensely as a child. Found an old copy on EBay!

[Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I swear I read this before. So much of it was familiar

[Maxine D'India Aeschleman · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has excellent illustrations. It describes the life of a redwood that lives in a forest over many hundreds of years and the life that happens around it.