The Hugging Tree

Name: The Hugging Tree
Author: Jill Neimark

A story that explores cooperation and opens a conversation with your child.

★★★★★ Loved by families

Read the Guiding Questions Find this book →

♥ This book teaches: Cooperation. choosing the group over the self.

Before, During & After Reading

Guiding Questions for Parents.

Definition of Cooperation for 4 - 7 year olds: Cooperation happens when two or more people help each other to make something good happen. It can also apply to animals or parts of a whole that need each other and work together. An example of this is the human body – all the parts work together to make you healthy. In a nutshell: Together we can do more. Summary: A lone tree hugs the side of the cliff. She absorbs nutrients from the soil, sun from the sky, water from the rain, and grows to become a home for a pair of loons. In the winter, bad weather almost destroys the tree, but she gets help from a boy who decides to help bring her back to life. Lesson Objectives:

Students gain knowledge about the systems in nature - the sun, the wind that scatters seeds, rain water, and nutrients from the soil - that support living things like trees.
The teacher guides a discussion about how nature can usually take care of itself, but when it can’t, people need to intervene and help.

Guiding Questions:

How do you think the tree started growing on a bleak and lonely rock?
What helped the leaves to grow?
Who decided to make the tree their home?
What happened that almost destroyed the tree?
How did the boy help the tree?
If you saw a tree like that, what could you do to help it?
If trees could talk, what do you think the tree would talk about with the boy?
Trees can’t really hug you, but can you hug a tree? Try it!
Sometimes nature needs our help. Can you think of something you’ve done to help nature?
How was the tree able to give back to the boy who saved it?

🌿 Virtue Connection: Cooperation means choosing to contribute to something larger than yourself.

About the Story.

This guide is part of the Values & Virtues library, a free collection of 400+ book guides and activities organized around 12 core virtues for children from pre-K to 6th grade. Each guide includes Guiding Questions designed to open a real conversation with your child in 10 minutes or less.