The Tree of Life: A Book Depicting the Life of Charles Darwin: Naturalist, Geologist & Thinker
Common Sense Note
For just the right child between the ages of 8 and 12 this book will be a treasure trove, but many children may need a bit of parental help to make sense of the book's design and give a context for the bountiful amount of information. Some of the exquisitely drawn illustrations are small and subtle in meaning, and the type face used in the illustrations could be challenging for young readers as well. The subject matter of the biography will be of interest to adult as well as child readers, and this book might best be enjoyed in a joint first reading.
Common Sense Review
Reviewed By: Marigny Dupuy
To compress the life and ideas of one of the great naturalists and thinkers of modern times into a 32-page picture book biography suitable for children is a feat in itself. To do so with originality and style is more impressive still. Peter Sis has achieved all of the above and much more.
A master in his field, Sis has already shown his abilities in his two Caldecott Honor titles, Starry Messenger: Galileo Galilei and Tibet Through the Red Box. Here he uses the same intricately complex interweaving of text and image to produce yet another remarkably smart and beautiful book.
The Tree of Life is organized chronologically, beginning with Darwin's birth into a prosperous English family in 1809. Because the author is tracing the influences on the young Darwin, both familial and cultural, however, the amount of information pertinent to the story could be overwhelming. Sis has developed a signature style perfectly suited to such a challenge. The illustrations are packed with pictures of people important to the story, with relevant scenes, and with additional writing that helps illuminate the story. Underneath the illustrations text runs in two and sometimes three fonts so that the reader can trace Charles Darwin's public life, private life, and what the author calls, secret life. The secret life in Darwin's case was the development of his revolutionary theory of evolution, work to which only a select few were privy.
Although in picture book format, this is not an easy book, but for children (and adults) willing to make the effort, it is deeply rewarding. One is left with a clear sense of the personal life of this famous man, from the difficulties that he had convincing his more conventional father to allow him to pursue his professional passion to his full family life with a wife and ten children. The reader also gains a grasp of the essential aspects of his thinking about the evolutionary process, and some sense of the shocking impact that his findings had on his contemporaries and have still to this day.
From the Book:
February 12, 1809
Charles Darwin opens his eyes for the first time!
He has no idea that he will (a) start a revolution when he grows up, (b) sail around the world on a five-year voyage, (c) spend many years studying nature, and (d) write a book that will change the world. Luckily, he is unaware that (e) not everyone will see things his way, and that (f) he himself will have doubts about revealing his grand conclusions.
Plot Summary:
This children's biography of the famous naturalist, Charles Darwin, begins with his birth in 1809 in England and ends with his death in 1882. While touching on many aspects of his life both private and professional, the bulk of the story focuses on his travels around the world from 1831 to 1836 on the H. M. S. Beagle, and the data that he collected on that voyage that influenced his revolutionary theory of evolution.
Related Books:
Other Nonfiction Picture Books by Peter Sis
The Starry Messenger: Galileo Galilei
Tibet Through the Red Box
Other Books About Charles Darwin
Charles Darwin: The Life of a Revolutionary Thinker by Dorothy Hinshaw Patent
Charles Darwin: Naturalist by Margaret J. Anderson
Charles Darwin by Ann Fullick
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