Rings of Heartwood
Rings of Heartwood
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Poems on Growing
Written by Molly Beth Griffin, Illustrated by Claudia McGehee
Minnesota Historical Society Press (March 2025)
Description
Growth is exciting—bigger, faster, stronger! But sometimes leaving behind our younger selves is hard. From bugs to bats to bears, the natural world shows us how to embrace transformation as part of life.
Growth is the excitement of something new, like a two-wheeled bicycle or a bigger pair of shiny shoes. In nature, growth shows up in new rings on a tree trunk, or a snake shedding its skin. Growing means a kid’s first day in a new school, and a baby bird’s first bounds out of its nest. We all grow, and sometimes, for all of us, it can be hard.
In Rings of Heartwood, twelve poems about woodland, wetland, and prairie dwellers explore different kinds of growth. A tadpole grows legs and lungs and transforms into a frog. A fern unfurls from fiddlehead to frond. A spotted fawn hides in dappled sunlight; soon its coat will grow darker and thicker, ready for winter—it will never sport spots again. Molly Beth Griffin’s playful yet meditative lines paired with scientific facts invite readers into the life cycles of plants, amphibians, crustaceans, birds, reptiles, and insects as they grow and change. Claudia McGehee’s vivid scratchboard and watercolor illustrations entice viewers to carefully examine whimsically detailed naturescapes. In words and art, Rings of Heartwood encourages readers of all ages to appreciate the challenge of change, and feel a deep kinship with the natural world.
Author Information
Molly Beth Griffin is the author of Ten Beautiful Things and Rhoda’s Rock Hunt, among many other books for young readers. She lives in Minneapolis.
Claudia McGehee is the illustrator and sometimes author of many picture books, including Begin with a Bee, Creekfinding, and My Wilderness. She lives in Iowa City, Iowa.
- Hardcover Picture Book
- Grades K-6
- 32 pages
- Fully Illustrated
- 10 in H | 10 in W
- ISBN: 9781681342320
Advance Praise
Height isn’t everything.../ while my twigs stretch upward/ here beneath this rough bark/ hums the quiet work of growing,” begins the first verse of Griffin’s latest, a nature-themed collection of 12 contemplative free-verse poems centered on the excitement and challenges presented by change. Each short poem is accompanied by scientific facts; the opener, “Heartwood,” for example, includes an explanation of how trees grow and introduces words including cambium and sapwood. Other subjects include the life cycle of frogs (“Nobody asked me/ if I’d like to swap/ my plant-tearing teeth/ for a bug-snapping tongue”) and the camouflage of young fawns (“My spotted fur is my invisibility cloak”). McGehee’s full-bleed scratchboard and watercolor illustrations add context to each page, resulting in a work that proves both rhythmically and visually soothing and educational. Human characters are portrayed with various skin tones. Includes creators’ notes. Ages 4–8. (Mar.)
— Publishers Weekly
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