Reading Group Guide
Thank you for sharing The Happiness Tree with your children! We provide many ideas to deepen their understanding of various themes in the artistic, scientific and personal realms. From language arts exercises to outdoor activities, we encourage thoughtful observation and wish to awaken the children's reverence for the natural world.
Trees provide beauty, shelter, fuel, food and clean air. They also inspire art and poetry, by arousing emotions and filling our senses. Indeed, trees stand for our very best qualities as human beings.
We hope to inspire your students to express their own original ideas and, like the little acorn we meet in the opening scene, begin journeys, among friends, with the motto:
"Everything good begins with me." ™
Our very best wishes,
Lisa Burnett Bossi & Andrea Alban Gosline
Hope, Love, Courage, Gratitude, Peace, Compassion, Tolerance, Generosity, Honesty, Happiness: Ten words to inform heartfelt discussions with children about feelings, wishes and values.
Discuss how each tree displays its particular attribute. (Examples: The Tree of Love is loving by cradling a bird's nest. The Tree of Generosity is generous by providing shade, The Tree of Courage iscourageous by braving the wind.)Give examples of the ways that human beings and animals exhibit these traits.Use these ten words to inspire a discussion of different ways children interact with each other in the classroom, at home, in their communities and the world at large.Create original artwork and writing using the individual words as prompts.Start a Happiness Tree log of the children's acts of kindness. Each day, add another example of kindnesses the children witness, hear about or perform themselves.
Amazing Adejectives: A simple oral or written exercise to enhance understanding of descriptive words in poetry and prose.
golden, windy, wild, gritty, fragrant, bare, tender, sturdy, leafy, warm, simple, ringing, unfurling, feathered, soft, small, new, fearless, steady, rainy, refreshing, quiet, good, different, trusted
Which adjectives are your favorites? Use one in a sentence to describe a noun that interests you.Compose a paragraph or short poem about what makes you happy using these or your own descriptive words.
A circle story is one that begins and ends in the same or similar place and often involves a journey of discovery.
Is The Happiness Tree a circle story?What happens at the beginning that leads to the ending?Describe the journey of the seedlings.Which friends are made along the way?
Tree Trips: Suggestions for exploring the outdoor world of trees.
Explore the grounds of your school or neighborhood park. See how many species are growing locally.Visit a state or national park and arrange a tour with a ranger for their wealth of tree knowledge.Survey the stock selection at your local nursery and ask the staff tree expert to guide your visit.Study specimen trees at a botanical garden.Visit an apple orchard any time of year for living lessons about the cycle of a tree's life.Spend a day at a sustainable tree farm and take part in their educational activities for children.
