Today’s perfect picture book selection written by Maria Gianferrari celebrates the power of one! On the surface, JUST ONE OAK celebrates the power of a single mighty oak.
Spread by spread the narrative shows how it provides homes, food, and storage for many in a variety of ways, adding a layer of detailed informational text suitable for older readers or for adults to explain to young listeners.
Diana Sudyka’s illustrations, created in gouache watercolor and finished digitally, are luscious. I’ll just point out one really cool detail in this winter-to-spring spread where the swirl of winter wind transforms into the bluebird’s song as the swirls travel across the page, upward to the right. Inspired! Along with these types of lovely artistic details, Sudyka provides a host of creatures (many with labels)—both above and below the ground, from bacteria and fungi to insects to birds to all sorts of furry creatures—for kids to identify and wonder at their strange and awesome diversity.
On the 12th spread three-quarters of the way through the book, the repeated lead in refrain “Just one oak…” changes to “Just one blue jay…” and how a single jay can bury thousands of acorns which may, in turn, become a grove of new oaks. And then the story returns to the oak for the remainder of the book.
With that ONE spread, Gianferrari sends a strong signal that you don’t have to be a mighty oak to make a world of difference. You can be a busy jay, making a difference through your own actions and persistence one acorn at a time. If I were to read this to a group of elementary school kids, when I reached the end of this book, I’d ask them “What acorns are you going to plant throughout your life?” It’s never too early to start.
Love this book!
A side note: we once parked our car under an enormous Valley Oak towering over one end of a mall’s parking lot just off 101 in Marin County, CA, an area that can get extremely warm in the summer. The breeze was blowing, and we opened our windows. The tree’s canopy (at least 60 feeet across) rustled in the wind and its shade kept us so cool! If we stepped out from under the tree into the sunny part of the asphalt parking lot, the temperature soared. So there’s another thing that JUST ONE OAK (actually most trees) can do for us!
Activities:
Visit David Bird’s website to see his phenomenal tiny acorn art people, and watch videos of them interacting with birds, a chrysalis, and a snowy bubble.
Check out Maria Gianferrari’s activity kit for JUST ONE OAK.
Try making JUST ONE OAK-related stamped prints as shown on Homemade City‘s blog post.
Plant a tree! Help cool down your town or city by adding trees to its landscape, either in your own yard or school yard, or by taking part in a a tree-planting day with a local park or urban forestry organization.
Title: Just One Oak
Author: Maria Gianferrari
Illustrator: Diana Sudyka
Publisher: Beach Lane Books, 2026
Ages: Elementary school
Themes: the power of the individual, trees, ecosystems
For more perfect picture book recommendations, please visit Susanna Hill’s website.
As a bonafide tree fan, I especially appreciate how the illustrations promote the importance of even one tree. And it would be so nice if more parking lots had trees!
I agree!
I love live oak trees, loved them from my childhood home and in my yard now. They are all the things mentioned and more, including a beauty to behold. I have a grand view of one right outside my window as I type this.
I know what you mean. My grandfather’s old farm house was surrounded by oaks we could climb. I love them dearly!
A wonderful book! I love the illustrations.
It is! And the illustrations are indeed fantastic.
I also purchased this book and I love it.
I agree. This one’s on my permanent collection shelf!
Such beautiful writing and illustrations, this book looks wonderful! Thanks for highlighting it!
Yes, it’s truly gorgeous in every way and filled with fascinating info. Kudos to the book designer, as well.
This book looks fantastic. I had the most important company here over the weekend so I left a bunch of emails unread until now. I just wanted to say I think this book might pair well with Lynn Street’s book about Blue Jays. I hope you’re feeling well.
No worries. We all have busy lives, don’t we? I think that would be a terrific pairing! Thanks for the suggestion. I get the staples removed from my head tomorrow, so I’m super excited to be done with that! Thank you!
I have a copy of this book. It is lovely. Glad to see you spreading the word.
Yes, it is! I hope it has a broad reach.
This looks lovely! Putting it on the list!! (Oh, BTW, I have been thinking of you because in the book I just finished EARTH 7 by D.O. Unferth, sand is almost a main character, and it reminded me of your lovely A RIVER OF DUST:))
Ooooh, yes, I’ll check it out! Thank you for the rec!