The Acorn and the Oak
By Rhonda Accardo
Reviewed by Mari Borstelmann
This is a story about a young girl and her mom who love walking together through the forest on a dirt road they know very well. At the end of the road is an old oak tree, a wonderful place for the girl and her mom to sit together and talk about nature. The girl learns how the Great Oak started as an acorn and grew to be so big and so important to many animals and birds in the forest. The girl comes to love the Great Oak and is deeply saddened one winter when she discovers that it has died. Her mom understands the sadness but explains that the Great Oak continues to take care of the forest by providing shelter to a family of raccoons and by giving life to the young oak trees growing where the Great Oak used to stand. She tells her daughter that a tree is beautiful when it is surrounded by other trees, “like a village full of friends and family who have watched it grow.”
The story of The Acorn and the Oak has connections to our own experiences of grief and loss. At the end of the book the author, Rhonda Accardo, connects the story to loss in her own family in a way that is uplifting and positive.
Suggested Activities: The Acorn and the Oak can be used to explore feelings of grief and loss. The book also ends with a short appendix that has easily accessible information about exploring nature. The entries can be starting points for elementary school children to learn about life in the forest.