Basil, Cornelius and the other resident bears were positively ecstatic when they heard about Rachel Piercey and Freya Hartas’s new poetry picture book, Grand Old Oak and the Birthday Ball (Magic Cat, 2023).
In this charming interactive follow-up to If You Go Down to the Woods Today (Magic Cat, 2021), readers are invited to join the inimitable Bear and his woodland friends as they plan a spectacular surprise party to celebrate Old Oak’s 500th birthday. Preparations will take most of the year with each season marked by fun activities.
As the story opens, Bear tells us that it all began in early spring:
HOW OLD IS OAK?
It started when I wondered,
as I never had before:
How long has Oak been growing here?
A hundred years, or more?
It must, I thought, take many years
of water, air, and light
to spread to such a wondrous width
and such a mighty height.
As Oak wakes up with his leaves unfurling, Bear asks him his age and learns (much to his astonishment) that his friend had sprung up on that very spot 500 years ago. As Bear starts thinking about all that Oak had seen in his long life, he begins daydreaming . . .
That summer, Bear comes up with an idea. What about a secret birthday ball for Oak? His friends roar and cheer in agreement. In no time at all, they create “piles and piles” of homemade invitations that are dutifully sent to everyone in Brown Bear Wood by lots of volunteers.
Jama's Alphabet Soup 