Oliver: The Second-Largest Living Thing on Earth

Oliver: The Second-Largest Living Thing on Earth
Written by: Josh Crute
Illustrated by John Taesoo
Kim Page Street Kids, 2018. Picture Book.

Oliver is a beautiful, tall, majestic tree in a national park—but unfortunately, he doesn’t feel all that special, because he is the second largest tree, not the first. Another tree outranks him, and gets all the attention. He even has a sign! Oliver works hard to get bigger so he can beat out his rival, but he learns some interesting and important lessons along the way.

Crute’s story is one of both accepting yourself for who you are (in this case, a smaller tree), but also of how sometimes being special as an individual is less important than contributing to something bigger than yourself. Kim’s fun personification of the trees and the forest make these characters easy to connect with and care about, and their individual looks make them seem unique from each other, even though they’re all part of the forest. “Oliver” is a fun and important story about how a changed perspective can make all the difference.

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