Just One Oak

Just one Oak by Maria Gianferrari. Illustrated by Diana Sudyka.

This is a great book to purchase and use throughout the year. I wouldn't hesitate to use it with PreK-6th grade. With this in mind, I would pace it for younger kids and use it as a spring board for older kids.

Just One Oak is a gorgeous picture book celebrating the amazing things an oak tree does through the seasons for the habitat in which it grows. The pictures are full of different kinds of animals receiving food, shelter, and lodging through its trunk, branches, and leaves. The book doesn't stop with the benefits that it provides above ground. It journeys down below the soil to show the vast networking of the oak's root system and the benefits that this enormous system provides. It is fascinating!

After reading this book, locate an oak tree around you. Watch the tree through the seasons for the different critters shared in the book. Note the way the tree grows and imagine its gargantuan root system underneath your feet. Observe how the tree changes as it goes through fall, winter, spring, and summer.