A review by kindredbooks
The Together Tree by Aisha Saeed

3.0

I received a copy of The Together Tree by Aisha Saeed and illustrated by LeUyen Pham from Simon and Schuster Canada in exchange for an honest review.

Rumi is at a new school and finds himself alone outside at recess. His classmates are not very kind and even those who do not partake in the unkindness only stand by and watch. When a situation is taken too far and Rumi is hurt, finally a kind hand is reached out. Rumi is finally able to make friends and get along with his classmates. He, in turn, reaches out to a classmate who is now on the outskirts as well.

In reading the author's note, I can see the really good intentions that went into this story. It is a story about kindness, about bullying on the playground, and about helping kids learn how to help others and themselves. I thought that The Together Tree does make its message known - and it will be a good story to spark conversation with young children about bullying and being kind to one another. There should definitely be a follow up discussion about some of the actions that happened in the story as it did seem like there were no consequences or meaningful resolutions for the mistakes and bullying that occurred in the story,