Parents' Guide to The Man Who Planted Trees

In The Man Who Planted Trees (narrated by Christopher Plummer) a young man on a walking journey through the Alps comes to a desolate land of sparse nature. Out of water, he meets a shepherd named Elezard Bouffiet who gives him his water. The young man stays with this shepherd for dinner, and observes how he quietly sorts acorns. He saves the good acorns, and the next day, the young man follows the shepherd as he plants acorns throughout the desolate land. The man has planted 100,000 oak trees, but expects fewer than 10,000 to actually grow in this harsh climate.

As Bouffiet continues planting trees, the young man fights in the first World War. He returns to the land Bouffiet has tended, and finds trees starting to grow. The narrator is inspired by Bouffiet's quiet humility and unwavering determination. He visits Bouffiet each year and marvels at the changes in the land Bouffiet's trees have brought to a once desolate land where only very mean villagers lived hardscrabble lives, and how decades later, this land has been transformed into a rustic paradise.